I have heard this so many times and I have felt my heart sink every time. I grew up in a family of Christians and met the Lord at the tender age of 5 years old. By 7 years old I was water baptised and received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I remember sitting with my mother, father and sister in family devotion and hearing the Bible stories of old and feeling inspired to have a relationship with Christ for myself.
I remember hearing my parents preach and teach from an early age and admiring their knowledge of the holy scriptures. This admiration grew into a deep fascination which began my reading journey.
I remember sitting and reading chapter after chapter and book after book as my mind was filled with images of flocks of sheep from the near east and their shepherds; things I had never seen in person up to that point. My imagination was enamored by the fantastic stories of David’s mighty men, Daniel facing lions in the den and the three Hebrew boys.
I believe that the Lord graced me as a child reading His word in such large amounts, with an understanding beyond my years.
In spite of this grace, there were many things I didn’t understand then, and there remain many that I still don’t understand today, now. So, allow me to offer some comfort to you.If you have challenges understanding the Bible; there is hope.
On the first level, I realised that a huge part of my understanding of scripture improved with me using a version of the Bible that was clear and in language that my brain could comprehend with as little resistance as possible. If you find for example that “thou”, “wilt”, “shan’t”, “justifieth”, and other terms of the like scare you or cause you to lose interest as you struggle to understand, perhaps it’s time to consider using a contemporary English version of the Bible (for those who are English speakers of course).
The King James Version of the Bible was written in 1611 and many editions later, there are those who still experience some challenges understanding its text. You may be one of the fortunate who read Victorian English and find it poetic and easy to understand, if that’s the case then Kudos!
Start with identifying a version of the Bible that is clear (in your language) while still maintaining a sufficient accuracy in its renderings of the original texts. Three examples to get you started are the English Standard Version (ESV), New International Version (NIV) and Christian Standard Bible (CSB). Versions such as the New Living Translation (NLT), The Message Bible and the Amplified are heavily paraphrased to aid understanding sometimes at the expense of textual transliteration accuracy. These are but a few examples which I pray will help you to begin your quest to find a clear and compelling translation for your personal use.
The Bible was written for you, but not to you. 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 says:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
This may come as a surprise to you but the Bible was not written originally in English. It was written in the languages of the ancient Eastern cultures like Hebrews and Aramaic. Parts of the New Testament were written in Greek.
You should be aware that because of this, experts in linguistics and biblical textual analysis have spent years translating the Bible from those original languages to yours (be it English or another).
The Bible is meant to be studied carefully.
There are inspirational segments and historical books, and poetry flows over many of its pages like a bubbling spring brook. These portions are fairly straightforward and easy to read.
But if it is your sincere to desire to understand the Biblein its entiretyas a unified story, then you will have to invest time in studying its hallowed pages.
I find that far too often believers and unbelievers alike are unprepared to invest the time and energy required to truly understand the Bible,yet have an unrealistic expectation that they will/have come away from its pages very learned.
Finally, you need the Holy Spirit. The Bible was never meant to be understood fully by relying solely on human intellect and logic. Sure the Bible is a very logical book in many ways and it contains passages which are very clear to the human perception.Many intelligent individuals can understand the words for the most part, but there is the reality that God wrote His book by inspiring people as His pens to inscribe the pages.
He also provides His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.
See the Bible was never meant to just make sense to our hearts, it was designed to make sense of our hearts, to transform our nature and lives. Only the Holy Spirit is able to take the words on the pages and cause this spiritual experience. Next time you sit with the Bible, pray and invite the Holy Spirit to explain it to you and also change you.Believe in faith that He will and you will find the experience far more enriching and empowering.
God bless.