This sun renews and warms the soul,
This sword both wounds and makes us whole;
This letter shows our sins forgiven,
This guide conducts us safe to heaven;
This charter has been sealed with blood—
This volume is the Word of God.”
READ THE BIBLE.
The Bible, being such an excellent book, should be read with care. There is not a condition or circumstance in life but that some appropriate counsel is given. “In this Book,” as Dean Stanley said to the skeptic Ewald, “is contained all the wisdom of the world.” George Muller formed the habit of reading it through with diligent attention four times a year. So delighted was Sir William Jones with it, that he wrote on the blank leaf of his Bible: “I have regularly and attentively perused these Holy Scriptures.”
If the Bible is good to read it is better to study. To study is an art and is the couplet to habitual practice. Said a talented young man to a musician, “Tell me how to play the sonatas of Beethoven in their true spirit.” “You ask too much of me,” said the musician, “yet I will do what I can. What do you play these days?” “Nothing.” “My friend! How shall I tell you how to play Beethoven when it is not your habit to play anything at all? To know how to play Beethoven you must first of all know how to play.” So with the Bible. To know how to study it, we must first of all know how to study. To enjoy a painting one needs more than to glance at it. It should be looked at from every point, the variety of shading noticed minutely, and then, taking a step backwards, one is better able to appreciate it, as its whole beauty stands out prominently. There is an ingenious engraving of the first draft of the American Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation, so finely shaded that at a little distance one presents a perfect likeness of George Washington, the other an excellent portrait of Abraham Lincoln. So after investigating this authentic history, this library of sixty-six of the world’s best books, the more than a hundred pieces of its best music and double that of pictures, one cannot fail to see standing out from all the great Jehovah and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.