On another note, my wife and I have been discipling a couple who said to me one evening that the reason he does not spend so much time reading the Bible is because he already knows what it says. Now a thought came to me -- and I figured that you could probably answer this in such a way that would prove his thoughts in this area are indeed erroneous. How is it that you, having read the Bible countless times, still feel a need and desire to do so, even though you have a much more of a grasp on what it says than someone who has been a disciple only eight years? I am hoping to persuade this brother that every day we go back to God's word with empty buckets, needing God to fill them again and again. We are poor and empty, needing God each and every day, whether or not we know exactly what the Bible will say when they open his word and peer again. -- C.J.
The person who says about the Bible, "Been there, done that," is like someone who says, "Oh yeah, I've seen the ocean. Been there..." He has no idea what wonders await beneath the surface, nor how out of his depth he is at nearly every part of the ocean. (Perhaps he is six feet tall; but the ocean averages 12,000 feet deep!) I feel sorry for people who have so little imagination, or curiosity. Besides, the chances he knows "exactly" what the Bible says are slim. This sort of arrogant attitude is why individuals--and churches--fail to change. Growth requires openness and humility.
I keep reading because I have much to learn; because the word is fascinating, and often thrilling; and because I want to learn how to communicate it to others.
