Dig Deep

By Kelly Bridgewater

Have you ever read a book or done  a habit so many times that it becomes kind of boring to you?

I have.

There is a habit that I start every day with that really doesn't thrill me anymore. To be brutally honest, it hasn't for a couple of years.

The book I'm talking about is the Bible.

I know. Shock all around.

But . . .

I have been raised in the church. I studied the Bible for quizzes at church. I would read the lesson before class. Have my own quiet time. Study the Bible and take notes during the sermons, youth group, and studying with my own family now. The Bible is a huge cornerstone of who I am.

My sons, at least, my oldest is impressed by how much I know about the Bible. My answer is to spend time with it. The more you read it; the more you understand it.

But. . .

the last couple  of years, my personal Bible study time isn't as wonderful or exciting as I want it to be. 

It feels like another check on my daily to-do list that gets checked off. Bible study. Done. Onto planning dinner. I read and know the words that are about to come, so I feel like I glaze over the deeper meanings. I really don't look forward to my Bible study anymore. I look forward more to listening to sermons where someone else explains a verse to me. I don't want my study to be that way. 

I WANT to study more and look forward to spending time in God's Word for myself. What truths can I discover by myself.

I want to dive deeper, but I don't know how. I want to study like our pastors do when they preparing for a lesson. What was going on around the known world when these things were written down? What were the cultural practices that motivated that movement? What other areas of the Bible talk about this topic too?

I don't know where to start to make the Bible come to life. I have a Strong's Concordance, but that isn't that helpful to me. I must be using it wrong.

Are there any books out there that any of you know that might help me start this deeper understanding of God's Word. I have tried Kristy Cambron's way of studying the Bible, and it really didn't reach out to me either. I wanted it to, but I felt like something was missing.

Please, leave suggestions on ways to make me more interested in the reading the Bible again. Book titles or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.