The Bible is too inexhaustibly interesting to be boring

Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really know much about the Bible. Which makes sense, since I didn’t read it. But I had a lot of assumptions about it, the same assumptions many non-Christians have about it. I assumed it was endlessly contradictory, outdated, and irrelevant. That nothing it said really mattered to life in the modern world. Most importantly, because I saw the few people I knew whose parents made them go to some kind of class at their church were bored to tears, I assumed the Bible was boring.

Then I read it, and I discovered a book that fascinated me. One that made me ask questions, and has kept me asking questions for nearly 19 years. A book that challenges me to dig a little deeper every time I think I’ve got something figured out.

There is always more to say (and to learn)

While working on a still-semi-secret project, I’ve been revisiting topics that I’ve written about in the past. The nature and trustworthiness of Scripture. The Trinity and the nature of God. What it means to be human. And the problem I find isn’t that I don’t have enough “new” to say, or that I’m repeating myself. It’s more that there’s always more to be said because there’s always something more to learn.

And I know that I’m not alone in this. For centuries, this has been the normal experience for all Christians. Even the greatest minds in church history experienced this.

Augustine, for example, devoted much of his life to exploring the creation narrative of Genesis. As he did, he found himself asking more questions rather than offering definitive answers. There was always something more; something further to explore.

The same is true for every mystery or paradox that we discover throughout the Bible’s 66 books. The relationship between God’s sovereignty and human freedom. The problem of evil. Election and salvation. As we read Scripture, we’ll see all of these and more. And as we begin to grasp them from one point of view, our attention will inevitably be captured by another aspect we couldn’t see before.

The perspective we need as we study Scripture

This is the perspective we need to have when we read and study the Bible. Sometimes we Christians can buy into the idea that the Bible only has so much to say to us about any given matter it addresses. That with enough time, we’ll have it all figured out.

But that’s not what God wants for us. Yes, we are to know the truth and to know it to the best of our ability. But we won’t ever come to the end of what we can learn. It is too inexhaustibly interesting for that. Too interesting to ever be boring.

Perhaps you began a new reading plan last week. Maybe you’re continuing on with one you began some time ago. Perhaps you’re reading wherever the wind takes you. Whatever the case, embrace the additive nature of Scripture’s inexhaustibility. Linger on the familiar passages. Ask questions of those you’ve perhaps never read before. And let doing so deepen the knowledge you have, and increases your awe of the one who inspired it to be written.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash