Throughout Scripture, we are challenged to grow in our faith and in our understanding of God’s word. Sounds easy enough except when you’ve read and studied it for years and it becomes almost mundane or boring. Not that God’s word is boring but after a while its easy for us to lose sight of just how amazing and exciting it truly is. God has spoken from heaven and given it to us for our good. Yet, we often lose sight of that and drift into complacency.

2 Peter 3:18 challenges us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5:12-14 challenges us to continue learning and never allowing ourselves to reach that point of complacency that causes us to slide into a need for milk and not solid food. This is a life-long challenge for all of us.

              The words of Proverbs 1:5-7 say, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (ESV) In essence, we are challenged to hear and increase in our learning of God’s word because we will never reach a place where we have mastered it all. Even after we have learned the core teachings of Scripture, we are faced with the challenges of applying it and conforming our lives to it.

              Ephesians 4:11-16 adds another dimension to this when Paul says that the gifts Christ has given us are meant to be used for the growth of the church as well. Thus, learning and continuing to learn is not a solo activity but a group activity meant to help us all conform to the image of Christ himself. This is only possible when we work together for the Lord’s Church.

              This is a life-long pursuit for all of us and I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to see that example set numerous times and hopefully to be an example myself. Don’t allow your familiarity with the Bible discourage and keep from enjoying the blessing of growth into the image of Christ. This can be a challenging journey for any of us but if we support each other, we will surely reach our destination.