Have you ever wondered how Bible study is like hiking?

In November 2016, we moved northeast from the village of Millbrook to Buckhorn. While only a 45-minute drive, the landscape drastically changed from rolling hills to rocks and pine trees of the Canadian Shield.

We loved our home in Millbrook but needed to make the change for our growing family. I knew that I would miss our neighbors and the quaint village. I would also miss the incredible hiking trails.

Imagine my joy when I discovered a trail system in my new neighborhood. It wound back and forth through the woods, up the hills, and along the lake. The path was easy to walk and offered various options to choose a longer hike or take a shortcut.

After hiking these new trails for years, I felt that I knew them like the back of my hand. I could take any path and know exactly where I’d end up.

Until the day I came across a new path. That morning I started at the south end of the trail system expecting to hike along the water’s edge. But when I saw the new route, I decided to explore it.

I didn’t think there was anything fresh I could explore in the woods, but I discovered new terrain to my delight.

As I walked this new path, I started to think about my Bible study.

Since 2001, I have committed to reading the Bible every day. I have read it from cover to cover several times. I have taken Bible studies, both online and in person. I have read the Bible chronologically, by subject, and in different translations.

Yet I have never come to the point where I feel as if I know it like the back of my hand. I have never started out reading it knowing where I may end up. It’s like discovering a new path every time I open its pages.

Although I may eventually run out of new trails to hike, I know that I will never run out of new revelations from the Bible.