I must have said the “magic words” a dozen times or more before anything changed in my life. It’s not that I didn’t want to become a Christian—it’s that I was trying to do it on my own. But no matter how hard I tried to clean up my act, I couldn’t. Not long after each attempt, I would be back at my old ways and once again far removed from Jesus.

Nothing might ever have changed except that someone near and dear finally shared an important passage from the Bible with me: Jeremiah 29:11-14. These verses got through to me—finally—that if I sought God with all my heart, He would be found by me. By that, I understood I was to read and study my Bible and leave the becoming-a-Christian to God, His sovereignty, His love and compassion.

That’s when I began my lifelong love affair with the study of God’s Word.

Now, I’m a perpetual student of the Word and use its precepts to set the course of my life. It’s my handbook for daily living and my comfort in life’s oftentimes overwhelming circumstances.

With such a perfect resource so easily available, I ask myself why anyone would choose to neglect the study of God’s Word. It’s inconceivable to me that anyone—especially those who are hurting—would ignore such an every-present help in times of need and choose instead to go it on their own.

Life is tough. And it’s going to get even tougher. Are you prepared? Do you know the Biblical precepts that lead to victory no matter the battle? If your dreams lie shattered and the hurt runs deep, do you have the power to overcome through your knowledge of God?

It’s all there; everything you need for coping with the challenges of life, right there in the pages of the Good Book.

The Bible tells us that God’s people perish for the lack of knowledge. Perseverance, then, hinges on knowledge of Him and His precepts. We acquire this knowledge through the diligent study of His Word.

Through study we learn that God is sovereign, in control of all things. Nothing can touch us without first being filtered through the fingers of His love.

We learn that He has a purpose for us individually and that nothing can thwart that purpose. He promises to see it through to the end.

Even when calamity strikes, we can rest assured that God not only knows about our plight, but has actually allowed it to happen. And if He allows it, we know that He will use it for our good and the good of His eternal kingdom.

His grace is sufficient, His power made perfect in our weakness. We must simply remain still, know that He is God, and lean not on our own understanding but put our complete trust in Him.

His love covers all our pain and mends the shattered dreams. His mercy provides the way out.

God watches over His word to perform it, so we are assured that every promise in scripture will come to fruition. God does not lie; He is Truth.

No excuse is great enough to justify neglect of the Word. As believers, we must not be content with a second-hand knowledge of our Lord and Savior. In these troubled times especially, it is essential to spend time in the Word and get to know God on an intimate level so we can walk in the steps He has laid out for us.