Read & Re-Read Your Bible, Again & Again

Word-Of-The-Day:  ‘Search <for God’s Wisdom> as you would hidden treasures, then you will understand the Fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God.’  (Proverbs 2:4-5)

I find that each time I read the Bible in depth, either for personal study or to prepare for a lesson (or the rare sermon), I learn something of a deeper meaning of the Scripture, something I had not considered before.

It is of the Holy Spirit; as you grow in the Lord’s understanding, He will provide this deeper enlightenment of the Word. God’s Word is simple, for those who are reading it for the first time, and it can be in depth for those who have studied it for years.

The word ‘complex’ is not an accurate description of the Word, except for those who are not children of God, those who have not yet accepted Jesus as Lord. For them, there is no Spirit indwelled who can provide understanding of what is read.

To understand, you must first believe and accept Jesus, then the Word becomes known for what it is, the instructional and corrective message God provides to His people.

I believe Matthew Henry has the best description of this; to paraphrase Mr. Henry (his prose is very ‘old school’ and very ‘wordy’), you have to take the time and energy to find God’s Wisdom in His Word, the Bible. 

You first must accept Christ as Savior; I remember as a kid reading everything including the dictionary (to overcome my speech impediment and the ‘stupid’ label that came with it), except for the Bible.

I tried to read the Bible surprisingly often but the words or the wisdom contained didn’t make sense.  This could also have been due to the ‘home Bible’ being the ‘old’ King James Version and its antiquated prose. 

It wasn’t until I was a child of Christ in my thirties, having come to Faith first, that, along with a New International Version 1.0 Bible with modern English, I was able to read, understand, and gain the Lord’s Wisdom within it. 

This is not to say that there are those who may read the Bible, see the Wisdom, and then be saved; but in order to experience the Gift of God’s Wisdom, one must accept the Gift of God’s Love (Jesus as Lord) first, to not only see the Wisdom but gain the Knowledge and benefits of it. 

You then must take the time to read and study God’s Word, and ask for God’s Wisdom to be seen.  For example, we often read about the account of Jesus and the adulteress who was about to be stoned, “He who has not sinned, may cast the first stone.” (John 8:3-11).  We know of course no one threw a stone and Jesus let the woman go, because everyone there had sinned and thus were persuaded not to throw stones at her. 

But reading that passage over again one day, the Lord showed me something and enlightened me to something deeper; There was Someone there who was sinless, and that was Jesus.  He could have thrown the stone, but didn’t.  He didn’t even pick a stone, but instead forgave the woman of her sin, and let her go without punishment. 

In this one passage, Jesus demonstrated His Love and His Grace, and His willingness to protect those who are persecuted, even those who have placed themselves in where such persecution is ‘justified’. 

The Bible is not a ‘one-time’ read and you’ve got it.  It is a Book that must be read and examined over and over again, and (with prayer) it’s Wisdom and Knowledge will jump out and hit you like a crazed ‘old school’ Catholic nun-ninja with yardsticks in both hands. (I’m joyful that my parents weren’t Catholic so I never experienced that.)   

When you find and see God’s Wisdom, you will then see the Power behind such Wisdom.  You should have a ‘parental fear’ or a great humbling respect of God and His Wisdom; He cannot be outwitted or trifled with by any scheme you can come up with. 

It is either His Way (to Heaven) or the Highway (to Hell).  When you commit to His Way, God will provide you His Wisdom and His Knowledge.  You will want to dig deeper and try to understand more. 

There is of course no way we will learn all of God’s knowledge as we have to accept the fact that we are limited beings and God is unlimited, but the hunger to learn more should and will always be there.