"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings."

                            -Proverbs 1:5,6 

In this portion of Scripture, Solomon begins a long chain of proverbs on how to attain (and retain) wisdom. To speak personally, I always have a hard time reading an entire chapter of Proverbs at once because you could literally spend an entire day focusing on only one verse. To put it in the words of a pastor I once knew, "Proverbs is just so full of meat", and this verse is no exception.

Before he goes very far in his instruction, Solomon first speaks of the necessity of  "...understanding a proverb, and the interpretation." These words are a very fitting introduction to this 31 chapter book because, though it may be "full of meat", it won't do us a bit of good if we are unable to understand any of it. In the same way that a car is useless without its respective key, reading 100 chapters of Scripture per day is of little to no value if we lack the understanding whereby we may apply it.

In the 8th chapter of Acts, Philip came across a man reading the words of Isaiah the prophet. Notice, though, what he said in verse 30: "Understandest thou what thou readest?" No, he didn't inquire as to the number of chapters he'd read that day; he wanted to know if he understood it. Though it is imperative that we set aside a good amount of time each day for prayer and Bible study, we shouldn't feel guilty if the Lord speaks to us in such a way that we only end up reading a single chapter due to the deep meditation spent on a handful of verses. While some people boast of being able to read through the Bible in a short length of time, God isn't looking for speed-readers; He's looking for people who will study His Word earnestly and diligently, regardless of what their CPD (chapters-per-day) average is.

So here's my challenge to you: when you are done reading this post, go and open your Bible. Read the first chapter that you see, then come back and comment with a few words, not stating what you read, but what you learned. And as a word of advice, you might consider beginning your study with a prayer similar to David's: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." (Psalm 119:18)