The importance of personal study
by 
There are more than a few reasons for every Christian to pursue their own personal study of the Word of God. First of all in Hos 4:6 it says "My people are destroyed for lack of knoledge..." - so what we don't know can kill us. Now, some people come from the perspective of Eccl 1:18, which says "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." & use that as an excuse to avoid personal study; however Jesus said "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." in Mt 24:13, so don't give up & remember 2 Chr 15:7 "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." .
One of the most important things that we should be aware of, is the thought contained in Rom 3:4 - "...let God be true, but every man a liar..." & also Jesus said it like this, in Mt 15:14 "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." . Basically, the man's saying comes into effect that goes "Power corrupts, & absolute power corrupts absolutely. We have to learn how to communicate with the Holy Spirit - Jesus said in Jn 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." & speaking again of the Spirit in 1st Jn 2:27 "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." . Now I know full well that God appoints humans as teachers; I should, as I am one of them. The point I am getting at is that we are supposed to be a suppliment to the regimen of study that you already pursue without us. Jesus said in Mt 4:4 "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." when He was quoting Deut 8:3 - now if we were to only eat physical bread one day a week; how well so you suppose we would survive? So much moreso we should be taking in the Word of God every day & not relying on our pastors to spoonfeed us once or twice a week. Also we have to do our own personal study to be able to verify if what the pastor says is true - look at Isa 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is noa light in them." - so if your pastor doesn't aggree with the Word of God then according to the footnote, he has no hope for tomorrow. Check out Acts 17:10-11 "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." - did you see how the nobility of the Bereans was dependant on their verifying the truth of the message that they had recieved? Paul himself said in 1 Cor 10:17 "I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say." . Jesus said it like this in Jn 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." & again in Isa 34:16 "Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read..." . Again there is 119 Ps 11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." not to mention that "...without faith it is impossible to please him..." (Heb 11:6) & "...whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Rom 14:23) & "...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - so the only way we can please Him & not sin, is by getting faith from the Word of God.
Perhaps, like me you can take personal study as a command - look at 2 Tim 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." & 2 Pet 3:15 "...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" & Deut 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.".
Perhaps you can look at it like this: The whole bible is a collection of loveletters from God to you personally (Cp Jer 31:3 "...I have loved thee with an everlasting love..." ) . Now the story goes that a pastor went to minister to an old widow from his congregation at her house & as he enters, he notices loads of pictures on the walls of the same young man; so he asked her about him & she responded that it was her son & that she loved him very much. So the pastor says "I can tell, so how is he doing?" & would you belive it? She says "I honestly don't know - you see he went off to war a while ago & he sent me this chest full of loveletters; but I havent taken the time to read them." - Well we as christians who say we love God, perhaps we should read the loveletters. Everybody likes promises; but how do you expect to be able to call on the promises of God if you didn't read them & don't know what they are?
Also, for those of you who think that we are in the last days; here is some incentive: When the antichrist takes control, he will burn all the bibles - look at Am 8:11-12 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it." & at that same time I believe this scripture comes into effect, namely Zec 8:23 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." - so do you want to be one of the people who other people come to, to hear the Word of God; or do you want to be one of the people looking for someone else who knows it???