Keep Reading – Keep Studying
Do you ever open your Bible in excitement, ready to study and learn, only to be utterly dismayed because you can’t understand what you read? You wonder, what’s wrong with me?
As Christians we are under the false impression that because we are Christians we are supposed to understand the Bible the first time we read it. When we don’t, we believe the lie that something is wrong with us, that we aren’t smart. In frustration and disappointment, we put our Bible away and decide to let our Pastor teach us on Sundays.
God’s Word is a letter to you and me. It’s purpose is to train and teach us in the way of righteousness. The Bible is how God talks to us and builds relationship with us. Our Pastors are amazing, but it isn’t their job to carry the weight of our spiritual growth on their shoulders. Our relationship with God is personal through the saving grace of His Jesus. God wants us to know Him as well as we know our best friend… in fact, I’m sure He’d love to be our best friend… our go-to person in time of need and joy. If we give up on studying the Bible because we run across something we don’t understand, we stunt the growth of faith journey and our friendship with our Creator.
Not understanding what I read in the Bible used to bother me a lot. Then I read a scripture that changed how I read and studied the Bible. “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” Deut. 29:29.
I now understand that I am not responsible for what I don’t understand. God has things that only He alone knows. I am responsible for how I respond to what He teaches me through His Spirit and that is all. This realization has brought great freedom to me as I study the scriptures. We can’t get caught up in what we don’t know or we will never live in the fullness of what we do know. We have to keep studying and keep reading.
