Surface

The worst enemy of Best is good and better.

I had come to the same conclusion regarding reading the Bible. The worst enemy of understanding the (deep truths of the) Bible is surface reading.When the application / meaning from a passage seems so clear (yet perhaps not speaking to your heart).. that is when we get contented about what it says and carry on with life (or perhaps, if we are more in tuned, to carry out what it says)

Yet, the best truths are not found this way. We don't find gems lying around on the streets - so it is with precious truths in scripture. Take for instance, the passage in Mark 1:35 onwards about Jesus going to a quiet place to pray. Its good if we grasp that even Jesus had to pray, that even He had to find solitude, that He set aside time early in the morning, even before the activities of the day.

That was the level I usually read it at. Until reading in class last Tuesday, I realised that it was not just a normal praying, that He was probably feeling disappointed, that He was probably interceding, that He was probably receiving instructions from the Father etc etc. It blew my mind. (Don't worry if you don't understand how I came to these conclusions, this is just an example, and anyway, maybe I am mistaken =p). How could I had missed those after so many times this passage was used?

Then again, perhaps we already have too much we understood but had not practiced. Maybe that is the greater problem. God speaks in different ways, and I for one, am glad that He speaks through even surface reading to communicate His Word.