Can you identify yourself in any of the examples below?

• Knowing every detail about your favorite band, musician, or sports team because you spent time learning everything there is to know about them
• Staying on top of every FB, IG, Snapchat, Ticktock or Twitter post your friends put on social media
• Informed on every new movie
• Always up to date on every fashion or technology trend
• Browsing the web on a topic that really interests you (like nutella 😉 ) and going from link to link, website to website, not getting bored as you sift through all that information
• When looking for the best college, the best house, top of the line smartphone or laptop, you make sure you’re informed on all the options

In other words, all of the above descriptions are areas where people like to dig deep. It means investing time, discovering details, doing a thorough job, preparation, or investigation. And we all do that when it’s our interest don’t we?

But, how often do we do that with God’s Word? How deep do you dig in Scripture?

Are you as passionate about growing spiritually as you are about your other interests?

How does digging deep translate into practical terms? 

• Reading the Bible consistently, every day, every morning
• Don’t substitute your daily Bible reading with short devotionals, thinking that is enough
• It’s important to read the Old and New Testament in parallel daily, going book by book in order, like you read any normal book. It is not spiritually healthy to skip and read haphazardly, just like you shouldn’t have dessert before your meal 🙂
• Pray that God will reveal His Word to you each time you read it, and will help you understand the meaning (and He will!)
• Ponder on what you read from the Bible throughout the day
• Read and analyze the text of Scripture in the context of the chapter, in the context of the book, and in the historical context (yes, context is very important)
• Look up different words in the original language
• Do a study on the book of Romans
• Supplement your Bible reading with reliable and sound commentaries
• Don’t wait for your pastor or church to open the Scripture for you- access it yourself regularly and rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal His Word

Digging deep and “building on the rock” means acquiring a good grasp of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible and the doctrines of grace. It means being rooted in the Word. This will keep you from being shaken when the floods of trials, temptations, false teachings and false prophets come your way!

What happens if you are superficial with God’s Word?

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” (Luke 8:18)

But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)

Those who are superficial with God’s Word will lose even what they think they have. The devil will erase the Word from their minds (Matthew 13:3-7), and they will be led astray by false doctrines and teachers because their foundation is not on the rock. 

You have to dig deep in God’s Word to get rewarded with “gold nuggets”. And you will, because:

…He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Some resources for digging deeper

Consider these like your spiritual digging tools for digging in Scripture: the shovels, pick axes etc. Or your workout equipment, or your vitamin supplements  🙂

– Blue Letter Bible  (great place to look up words in the interlinear, cross reference, use the dictionary)
– Bible Hub (another great site for looking up root words and cross referencing)
– The Bible Knowledge Commentaries (Old & New Testament)
– The Ungers Bible Handbook (look up historical background for each book of the Bible, with pictures)
– Compact Bible Handbook (great for overview, key chapters, verses and timeline of each book of the Bible)
– The Open Bible (best introductory outline for each book of the Bible)