Day 268: Bible Study and Bible Doing (Ezra 7:10)

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”

Ezra 7:10

Through the Bible: Ezra 7–10

Years ago, I was trying to help a women’s Bible study group (not at the church I currently pastor) select their next Bible study. I mentioned a prominent author and recommended her current study.

The leader’s response horrified me.

“Yes, we did one of her studies before. But she gets too much into all the practical application stuff. We just want to study the Bible.”

I wish I was making this up. But sadly, many Christians would rather study the Bible than do what it says.

Ezra 7:10 might be one of the most concise descriptions of the life of a disciple in the Bible. In one verse we see Ezra’s whole orientation toward God’s Word:

• He set his heart to study the Law of the Lord.
• He committed himself to do it.
• And then he was ready to teach it.

Notice the order. Study comes first. If we don’t know what God has said, we have no anchor, no foundation.

But study isn’t the end goal. Head knowledge without obedience just puffs up. So Ezra also determined to do it—to live in alignment with what he was learning.

Only after study and practice did he move to teaching.

It’s tempting to skip steps. We want to share what we’ve learned before it’s taken root in us. Or we settle for knowledge without obedience. But the order matters. If you try to teach others before you obey yourself, you become a hypocrite. If you try to do before you study, you will fail (just ask anyone who has tried to put together furniture from IKEA without looking at the instructions!) If you try to study and do without teaching, you hoard the truth instead of multiplying it.

This pattern runs all the way into the New Testament. Acts 1:1 describes the ministry of Jesus as “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” Jesus modeled what He called others to live. And later James warns us not to be hearers only, but doers of the Word (James 1:22).

So here’s the challenge for us: Are we letting God’s Word move from head to heart to hands? Are we setting our hearts to learn it deeply, practice it faithfully, and then pass it on courageously?

Beloved, Bible study without Bible practice is incomplete. And Bible practice without teaching misses the call to make disciples. Ezra shows us the way: learn → live → lead.

So the next time you hear someone say, “We just want to study the Bible,” remember Ezra. He set his heart to study it, to do it, and to teach it. Anything less isn’t really Bible study at all.