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I've met some people over the years who want to get serious about Bible study but think it's too late.  Some are new to the faith and "past their prime"  as they'd put it.  Others have been Christians for decades but have never taken the time to get into Scripture in a way that moves beyond occasionally reading the Bible.  Most of the time when people say those things, I know they are not making up an excuse.  They really do believe it is too late.

If that is you, take this in the right spirit:  that is nonsense!

Studying the Bible is as easy as moving beyond reading in simple ways:  looking up cross-references, using the concordance in the back of your Bible, reading through notes in a study Bible, using Google Scholar to search for papers,  thinking critically about what you see and probing it with questions.

Experts like to say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in something.  That's nonsense too, unless you want to be a Hall of Famer, perform surgery, practice law, or be a lead chef at a five-star restaurant.  I am not talking about getting a PhD in biblical studies.  That isn't a requirement for being a serious Bible student.  I am talking about getting proficient at using certain techniques and tools and then being tenacious in their use. Five minutes a day will achieve that.  I know because I have done it.

Proficiency in Bible study is about perseverance, not intellect or intuition. Most of the things we'd consider ourselves good at are like that.  Sure, you read about a kid who has a photographic memory who became a chess grandmaster before he was ten,  but 99.9 percent of chess experts aren't that kid.  They got to their proficiency through repetition.

Age is no obstacle to this either.  An eighty-year-old who devotes time every day to Bible study will have a year's worth of experience (and knowledge) by their next birthday, exactly the same as if a thirty-year-old did it.  What matters is actually doing it.  The mind has an amazing ability to store information and recognize patterns. It just has to be trained through repetition.

So don't put off getting into Scripture.  Everyone you know will be a year old this time next year. but only those who actually engage in Bible study will  know Scripture any better.