One Step Forward, Two Steps Further Away

I heard J. Vernon McGee once comment on the radio that the more he studied the Bible, the less he knew.

I read R.C. Sproul say in The Holiness of God that the more he studied God's attribute of holiness, the more conspicuous he felt preaching it to others.

I've found that time spent in the Word evokes an insatiable appetite for the Word.

And I suspect that progress made according to the first verses of Proverbs 2 is going to leave me with the somewhat uncomfortable realization that the more I comprehend, the more knowledge I find, the more wisdom He grants me in reward for my active and eager pursuit of insight and understanding...the further perfection will be from me.

I liken it to a young child learning math. She begins by learning her numbers, place value, addition, subtraction and the like; she is certainly progressing from where she started. But a little way down the line, she gets a peek at algebra, angles, formulas and proofs, and begins to sense just how much there is to know. While it's true that she's learning and gaining new skills all the time, it is also true that she is realizing -- for the first time -- how very far away is her mastery of the subject.

I'm glad that my God -- the One True God -- is that big. I'm glad that I could search His scriptures for the rest of a long life and never get near to knowing Him in His fullness. I'm glad there is that to look forward to after I breathe my last.