C.O.M.A.

Just as I mentioned the other day that there are different methods to help instruct our prayer, I also came across another basic method of reading the Bible. It is the COMA approach (I found this in some material from Matthias Media). Coma stands for:

1. Context - Where does the content of this passage fit into the bigger story of the Bible? What has happened so far? What is still to come? What is the main thrust of this book of the Bible?
   
   
2. Observation - What type of writing is this book/passage? Is there any way that the passage can be naturally broken down into smaller sections? Is this a poem? A proverb?
   
   
3. Meaning - What does this passage tell us about God, Jesus, God's people, or the world? What might this passage have meant to its original hearers? How can we sum up the meaning of this passage in our own words?
   
   
4. Application - Why does this matter? How does this passage instruct us today? Does it require us to change our understanding of who God is, what God does, or how God works in relation to his people or the world? Does it require that we change the attitudes we hold, or the way we live?

None of this is rocket science, but I think it is a helpful framework for solid transformational Bible study.