Trying to Figure Out What the Bible Means
Listen to people, including yourself, try to figure out what something means in the Bible. It reminds me of the time Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Then the Bible says, "And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have taken no bread'" ( Matthew 16:7).
Often we want to make the figurative, literal and the literal, figurative. Here the disciples wanted to make the figurative, literal.
Just relax, free your mind, and consider the context. You will be surprised how much that help towards understanding the Bible.
Truly, we also need to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, that is, of their teaching. We need to beware of the intolerant spirit of the Pharisees and the overly tolerant spirit of the Sadducees.