As you read the Bible, whether you’ve read it a hundred times or never before, you’ll find that just like when watching birds, questions begin to mount. Here you were expecting it to answer all your questions!

Read just a little bit a day. Eventually you’ll want more. But not all at once. Not at first.

As with watching birds, the questions start coming as you read (or watch). Why does this bird fly this way and that bird fly that way? How did they know how to fly? Did their parents teach them, or is it innate? I’ve got several bird handbooks that give some answers, and surfing around the internet turns up other answers. These usually lead to more rabbit trails and more questions. But somewhere in there something was learned. And if I didn’t find a satisfactory answer to my first question, I did learn some new things. Belonging to a group like the local Audubon Society has provided people contacts that have been most helpful in my searching for “bird answers.”

In the same way, being part of a church that believes the Bible or a Bible study group helps one find answers to some of the questions that begin piling up a you read the Bible. And just as with bird answers, they may not be what you want, but keep searching and seeking. You’ll find some answers and form new questions to pursue.

Remember you are on a lifelong journey, in a quest that will give you more questions with each answer you find: both with the Bible and with birds. Keep at it.

It’ll feel like you’re sifting through gravel. Then suddenly you see a diamond! Just what you needed at the moment. Or a missing piece to a puzzle in your head.

These bright moments don’t happen all the time, but enough to keep you going back: both to the Bible and bird watching.

If you want any suggestions as to where to start reading the Bible, I’d be glad to give you some.

Try it out!