It's been a long time...

I wanted to post this in the present venue because it is really a musing, though it has spiritual elements that could classify it as a Bible study. Here's the background:
I was at a meeting last night of the Truth Project, a series by Focus on the Family that tries to help people refine their world view to make it more Biblical and less influenced by the world. I made a statement that, given the current state of our physical and mental abilities (i.e. according to some reports most people use about three percent of what their brain is actually capable of, people like Einstein used about ten percent, but Adam in his pre-Fall state used 100%), we do not understand everything in the Bible all at once. In fact, I find that as I continue to read the same passages repeatedly, I find new meaning in them for my current circumstances.
Another gentleman in the group, whom I will characterize as a literalist, took exception to my statement, thinking I was saying that the Truth in the Bible changed from time to time, from circumstance to circumstance. My Pastor rose to my defense saying that, knowing me, he knew that was not what I was saying. I agreed, reaffirming that it was just my comprehension of the Word that changed.
I mentioned to my wife a few nights ago that I am amazed that at 65 years old I am just now understanding certain facets of life and God's Word. It gave me new insight on why many of the antediluvian (pre-Noah) figures did not even start having children until they were 65 or so.
So, this morning as I was musing last night's discussion, I saw a metaphor for what I was saying. As we look into God's Word, it's like we are digging for raw treasure. Sometimes we find nuggets of gold or silver; sometimes whole veins of the raw gold or silver ore. And occasionally, we find raw gems. They are raw and impure because the Holy Spirit has not taught us how to apply them in our lives. The gold and silver ore need to be heated up until they melt and the impurities that we have attached to them in our initial readings (dross) rise to the surface to be extracted leaving the pure metal of the Spirit's perfect interpretation (1 Peter 1:7). After all, He's the one who wrote it in the first place (2 Peter 1:21). And the gems need to be processed by the Spirit as well, chipping off pieces here and there, revealing new facets, geometrically placing them in just the right places in our lives so that the finished jewel, the Spirit's application in our lives, magnificently reflects God's glory.