By: Steve Klein

Leroy Eims writes the following about driving with his family from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida:

"As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit.  When we stopped for breakfast, I ordered orange juice with my eggs.  'I'm sorry,' the waitress said.  'I can't bring you orange juice.  Our machine is broken.'   At first I was dumbfounded.  We were surrounded by millions of oranges, and I knew they had oranges in the kitchen – orange slices garnished our plates.  What was the problem?  No juice?  Hardly.  We were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice.  The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it.  Christians are sometimes like that.  They may be surrounded by Bibles in their homes, but if something should happen to the Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls.  The problem is not a lack of spiritual food – but that many Christians haven't grown enough to know how to get it for themselves."

Keeping your Bible study skills in good working order is indeed a lot like maintaining the ability to squeeze oranges to make your own juice.  If you don't use the skill, you'll lose the skill, and you may forget that you ever even had it (cf. Hebrews 5:12-14).

Here's what studying the Bible for yourself has in common with making your own hand-squeezed orange juice:

YOU ARE SURE OF THE SOURCE.  When you are brought a glass of orange juice at a restaurant, you have no idea where it came from or what kind of oranges were used to make it.  Even so, when you merely read or hear what someone says about the Bible, how can you be certain that God is the source?   But when you read the words of an inspired apostle or prophet for yourself, you know that you are getting divine truth direct from the source.  In Ephesians 3:3-4, the apostle Paul points out that the Scriptures he wrote came by "revelation" from God; he promises that "when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ".  Paul declared, "The things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (1st Corinthians 14:37).

YOU KNOW ITS PURITY.  A lot of orange juice that you buy is actually made from concentrate.  Water and other things are added to it.  It's not really pure orange juice.  A lot of so-called "truth" that has been reconstituted by preachers isn't pure either; it has been mixed with human error.  But God's word, like fresh squeezed OJ, is 100% pure.  The Psalmist declares, "Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it" (Psalm 119:140).  Proverbs 30:5 states, "Every word of God is pure".  We are to desire God's word in its pure and unadulterated form (1st Peter2:2).

YOU CAN TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY THE PRODUCT WITH CONFIDENCE.  Like enjoying a glass of fresh squeezed juice to the last drop, when we study for ourselves, and know that we've got God's pure word, we can savor it thoroughly – like the Psalmist who said, "I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.  My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes" (Psalms 119: 47-48).

IT TAKES WORK.  Squeezing oranges by hand is a lot of hard work; so is studying your Bible for yourself.  In all reality, that is why a lot of people do neither.  It's too much work.  But if we want juice and truth that are from the right source, 100% pure, and can be enjoyed with confidence, we'll put forth the effort.  "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2nd Timothy2:15).