"Come, now, and let us set matters straight between us," says Jehovah. (Isaiah, 1:18).

This was said to the nation of Israel when they had fallen away from keeping Jehovah’s laws. It underlines a basic point, that in order to set matters straight with God, it is first necessary to learn what he has said he wants from us. That can only come from an examination of the Bible, the collection of writings made over centuries that have recorded Jehovah’s interactions with humanity.

Jehovah has given mankind thinking minds that we can use to understand these writings. We need to learn what he has said and remember it, not by just repeating the words, but by understanding his thoughts, by getting to know him through the things he has caused to be written, and by reasoning on them.

James 4:8 says, "Draw close to God and he will draw close to you," and we can do that by relying on what he has caused to be written down, revealing different aspects of his personality to us. No special training is needed for this as the Bible was written for everyone. Remember, the earliest followers of Jesus were not educated men, Acts 4:13 makes that clear, "Now when they saw the outspokenness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were astonished. And they began to realize that they had been with Jesus."

It says in Romans, 15:4,"For all the things that were written beforehand

were written for our instruction, so that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.", and in his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote that "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness," (2 Timothy, 3:16.)

It is clear, then, that for Christians today understanding and applying the scriptures is the best way to understand Jehovah and the roles that Jesus and mankind play in his plans for the universe. The letter from Paul then goes on to say in verse 17, "so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." So that makes it very clear. If we want to understand God and serve him, we must learn and apply what he has told us in the Bible. Understanding that will make us "completely equipped" to live our lives in harmony with his wishes.

The short articles in this web site are intended to do that, to highlight individual aspects of the scriptures, beginning with basic information about Jehovah and his son, Jesus Christ. I invite you to read them all as they are presented over time, then use the information in your daily life.

If you have a question about this or any other bible subject, please ask it in an email.