In Other Words - Skimming is not my friend

"Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets." ~ Madame Jeanne Guyon

Hi, I'm Crystal. I'm a skimmer. Not so much when I read the Word in study, but in everything else. See, I have a short attention span and even though I love to read, I have a hard time concentrating on something that doesn't especially hold my interest. I have to consciously slow down and make myself focus, or else I'll end up reading the same thing over and over and over again with no more knowledge of what I just read than I had before I started. The whole skimming thing has never worked for me. If I tried it in school, I wouldn't be able to answer the questions. If I try to skim an article, I'll never remember important information. If I skim a friend's email or internet posts, I'll miss the fine details of their lives. Skimming just does not work at all for someone like me, especially since I already have a horrible memory.

Obviously, I have already found the wisdom in this week's quote to be true in many aspects of my life. However, the quote is pertaining specifically to skimming while reading the Bible. When I open up the Word to study, I read slowly and try to understand what I'm reading. But honestly, I don't think even that is enough to truly extract all the sweetness of His Word. It wasn't until I bought a good concordance that I realized how much goodness we miss out on when we read from our translation of choice. SO much is truly lost in translation. That is why I appreciate Bible studies that put a lot of emphasis into original language study of the passages or topics on which the study is based.

I admire people who really dig deep and embrace the full meaning of scripture instead of just what we have in our favorite translation. Following in those footsteps and learning to do that myself has opened up my eyes to several things in scripture that I would have missed had I not learned this valuable lesson. I think if more people would do this, then perhaps less scripture would be taken out of context and more growth would happen from the understanding gained in this practice.

If you don't study the Word in this way, I urge you to give it a shot. I promise it is worthwhile. Don't skim, but don't stop there. Dive DEEP into the scriptures, plunging past the limits of our English language translations so you don't miss some of the sweetest droplets of the nourishing nectar that is God's Word.

(And remind me to do the same.) ;o)

Don't forget to visit Laurel Wreath, this week's host, and read her thoughts on the quote. :o)