To what end scriptural interpretation?

With the ruled nature of the literal sense in mind we can note, secondly, that interpreting Scripture—again, a means of grace—is not something done for its own sake, but to achieve a particular end. All of Scripture for Wesley participates in a message; it has a general tenor summarized in the analogy of faith. As a result, the point of interpretation is not to understand the text itself, but to understand through the text.— Reading the Way to Heaven, page 94

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A point that needs to be remembered by people like me. I too often get so lost in the text and what it might mean—the possible interpretations, the textual variants, the intertextual references, and on and on we go&mdasah;to the point of missing the heart of the text: to know God.
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