Rereading

I have recently discovered the true joy of reading a passage over and over and over again.

In the past I have always struggled with this idea. I have allowed myself to read a rut into Scripture. I would fix my mind on what I had already learned and then convince myself that there was nothing else in those passages to learn. I might never have confessed that openly, but when I look back at my habits, that is definitely what I was doing. Once I had read a big enough rut, I would then just gloss over familiar passages, barely even paying attention to the words that were really there.

Then Doug and I began a new habit. We began reading Proverbs every month. Proverbs is conveniently divided into 31 chapters, making it easy to read a chapter a day each month. We do change translations every month or two for different perspectives, but we still read the same passages over and over and over again.

And we have learned so much!

God's Word is so incredibly alive, but sometimes I let myself forget that. I forget, that is, until I've reread a passage for the twentieth time and then suddenly I discover something brand new that I had missed every time before. His Word is living and appropriate for exactly where I am today.

So, I encourage you - go and reread that passage that you're so familiar with but haven't actually and truly read in years. Go truly pour through a Psalm and see the depths of truth revealed there. Be reminded for yourself just how alive God's Word truly is!