Your little finger represents reading the word. You take the time to read the Scriptures on your own. I know that many of you have already made that your daily habit. By the way, reading different versions of the Bible is an excellent way to stimulate your thinking.
Your ring finger represents your study of the word of God. The difference between reading the Bible and studying it is a pen or pencil. You are writing down thoughts that have come to you as a result of your reading the Scriptures. No one is really a serious student of the Bible until they begin to study it.
Next, your middle finger reminds you to meditate on the word of God. When you chew on it and turn it over and over again in your mind, it's like digesting a wonderful meal and getting energy from it to go on.
Your index finger, fourthly, reminds you that Scripture is especially helpful to us when it is memorized. As we repeat it over and again in our own minds, we can use it when we need it. We do this by committing verses to memory.
Finally, your thumb represents translating the word of God. Some of you are already doing this, and you are enjoying the process immensely. I love to translate for myself a passage of Scripture before ever teaching or preaching it. Today my morning Bible study found me in the fifth chapter of Ephesians.
Would you care to see my rendering of a couple of its verses?
Stop trying to find your joy at the bottom of a bottle. Getting drunk all the time is the perfect way to ruin your life. Instead, turn control of your life over to the Holy Spirit of God. You will find yourself needing to do this not just once or twice but all the time. And when you do, you will start quoting to each other the words of spiritual and scriptural songs instead of barhall tunes.
I could on and on but I hope you get my drift.
It is sad but true that the average Christian thinks that the Bible is dreadfully dull and boring. Yet I'm convinced that the reason Scripture seems dull to so many people is because we fail to read it, study it, meditate upon it, memorize it, and even translate it. How different things would be if we employed these strategies for effective Bible study!