Ever noticed that you can read a verse in the Bible several times, and discover something different each time? It’s like shining light on a diamond. Each time you turn it slightly, you suddenly see another facet of its beauty. The Bible’s different from every other book we’ll ever read. We can learn all kinds of things about God from our own personal experience, from listening to the stories of others, and from reading books and listening to talks by Bible scholars and theologians. But we’ll get to know God even better by reading His Word and immersing ourselves in it. The psalmist wrote, ‘To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless’ (Psalm 119:96 NIV). There’s no limit to the things we can discover in God’s Word. But if we’re not learning or understanding something, we can get discouraged or think there’s nothing there for us to learn. The key is not to give up and to stick with it. If that’s how you’re feeling at the moment, here’s something to try: study the same Scripture a few times, then leave it for a while. In that time, ask God any questions you’ve got about that Scripture, and ask Him to show you what He’s trying to teach you through it. Maybe even read up on any other verses that cross-reference with it. When you come back and dig into it again, you’ll probably discover all kinds of things you didn’t notice before. There’s no limit to the number of times you can study a verse, no limit to the number of questions you can ask, no limit to the ways you can apply biblical guidance to your life. So put in the effort, keep going, and keep asking questions.

What now?

Is there a particular Bible verse that you’ve always struggled with? Commit to reading it every day for a week, and ask God to reveal new shades of meaning each day.