by Elder Johnny Kim

Growing up, the end of the summer always meant one thing. It meant that the time of rest and relaxation and fun in the sun was drawing to a close and the new school year was just around the corner. Like other kids, the tail end of the summer was the time I would start anticipating moving up to the next grade in school. Wondering what new subjects I would be taking and what new things I would be learning. Year after year, the routine was always the same. You spent the school year at a particular grade level, had a summer break, then started the new school year at the next grade level and so on. It’s a routine that we’ve all been a part of and one that represents the progression of academic learning. All throughout school, we are always acquiring more and more knowledge year after year and learning things more complex than those learned the year before.

This principle is pretty elementary (pun intended) in the context of school, yet sometimes we as Christians neglect to consider that in some sense, our Christian walk ought to be the same way. Specifically, when it comes to the study of the Bible, our knowledge of God’s Word ought to reflect a similar constant progress towards a greater and deeper understanding of God, His character, and His commands. Like Ezra, our hearts ought to be set on “studying the law of the Lord” (Ezra 7:10). And by doing so, year after year, the faithful Christian should exhibit a growth and a maturity that is always increasing. As it is with school, it should be just as much a given that as Christians, we are to constantly be growing in the Word and ever moving up through the proverbial “grade levels” of learning all there is to know in God’s Word.

Unfortunately, for some of us the pattern of our growth and knowledge of God’s Word is more stagnant and static rather than swelling. Particularly for those further along in the faith, for some reason it seems easier to be caught in the position where we find we are no longer as excited and disciplined about reading and studying the Bible as we were when first saved. Sure, the more mature Christians may no longer be spiritual “preschoolers”, but they could still find that they’ve been “stuck in 8th grade for the last decade” in terms of what they know about God and His holy Word.

Christians are called to diligently study God’s Word and to meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2). The student who is held back a grade in school because of laziness and lack of motivation feels a sense of shame and rightly so. So there is shame for the believer who after years and years of being a Christian still only knows little more than the fundamentals of the faith. With each passing year, we should know that much more about God and the doctrines and truths in His Word than we did the year before and because of that, with each passing year, there should be a marked difference and a maturation in the way that we evangelize, teach, and serve. Growth in godliness is never separate from growth in the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word (1 Peter 2:2). Studying God’s faithfulness, His goodness, and His promises can’t help but cause us to better trust in Him, worship Him, and glorify Him with our lives.

Let us encourage one another to diligently read and study the Bible, God’s divine truth given for us. Grade school may be just a distant memory for some of us, but none of us should ever stop being an active student of God’s Word. If we, like the psalmist, can truly proclaim that we love the Word of God (Psalm 119:97), then we will quickly find that we will never need nor want a “summer break” from studying it for as long as we live.