The young salesman approached the farmer and excitedly told him about the great book he was selling. He said it had all the information needed to run a profitable farm: when to sow, when to reap, how to predict the weather, how to care for livestock—everything that would make any farmer a success.

Patiently the farmer listened and then replied, "I know everything that's in your book. My problem is doing it."

That may be our problem when we read the Bible. While we don't know everything that's in God's Book, we may have a good grasp of the facts it contains and the doctrines it teaches. But we often find it hard to translate the printed page into practice.

We may be like the man who sometimes would jot in the margins of a book he was reading, "YBH?" meaning, "Yes, but how?" When asked what those letters meant, he explained, "I agree with what the author says, but I don't know how to get that truth off the page and into my life."

Do you have that problem when you read the Bible? If so, don't be so discouraged that you quit reading it. Instead, ask God to help you understand His Word, and then obey it with your whole heart (Psalm 119:34).    — Vernon C. Grounds