On Their Shelves Unused

But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matt 22:29).

Serapion, a desert monastic, once challenged the owner of several books:

The prophets wrote books. Then came our ancestors who lived by them. Those who came later understood them from the heart. Then came the present generation who copied them but put them on their shelves unused.

(HT:CT)

Serapion's profound exhortation brought to mind Jesus' rebuke to the Sadducees, that you may possess the truth of Scripture and still not own it.