Vol.8 No.1

Alone with God’s Word
Only one Book has the power to truly revive our weary souls.
by Matilda Erickson

"Lean Christians own Bibles, but feed on newspapers.”

Read your Bible. No matter what higher critics say, those who read the Bible sincerely, find it still quick and powerful. Spurgeon said, “I should like to see a huge pile of all the books, good and bad, that were ever written, prayer books, and sermons, and hymn books, and all, smoking like Sodom of old, if the reading of these books keeps you away from the reading of the Bible; for a ton weight of human literature is not worth an ounce of Scripture.”

A Book for All Occasions

In all the trials of life, that Book meets every need of the human heart. In heathen lands or in civilized countries, in prisons or in palaces, in times of famine or in days of feasting, in poverty or in prosperity, the Bible speaks to the mind. When enjoying the comforts of peace or when suffering the calamities of war; while absorbed in the things of this world or while meditating on the glories of the next; when thrilling with exuberant health or when languishing on beds of sickness; when rejoicing over the cradle or when weeping over the grave; when doubt, perplexity, and fear struggle for possession, or when pleasure, wealth,  and popularity lead to forgetfulness, for each circumstance, the Book of God has a message for the heart—just the message it needs.

Bible study inspires courage and determination to  press on. The men and women on its pages are so human! They did not always succeed; sometimes they, too, failed. The Bible records how patiently and sympathetically God deals with His erring children, and it reminds us that “He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” How comforting it is to know that the Father understands me!

A Book with Secret Power

A good study of the Bible will make Jesus more real to you than any earthly friend. There is nothing you cannot talk over with Him; and He always understands, sympathizes, and gives the counsel needed. You may have Him walk so close beside you that He hears your thoughts and feels your heartaches. R. F. Horton, in “Victory in Christ,” says, “The one sure and never failing method of living the victorious life is daily study of the Bible. Study, not hasty reading; daily, not at fitful intervals. That study must be with prayer, and faith and a single-eyed desire to know the will of God and do it. Such a devotional and habitual use of the Bible, beyond all dispute, leads to a full experience of God’s love, of Christ’s saving power, of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”

A missionary addressed a group of young ministers who were planning to go to China. In closing, he said: “You may learn to speak Chinese glibly, you may adopt Chinese customs, eat with chopsticks, and even wear Chinese clothing; but unless you are faithful in secret prayer and personal Bible study, you will fail as missionaries in China.” Prayer is the breath of the spiritual life, and personal Bible study is its food.

Every Christian intent on sharing the gospel must know his Guidebook. What would you think of a man posing as a guide, who did not know where to find the places of most interest to tourists? William Carey was a busy cobbler; but with the opened Bible on one side of his bench, and the map of the world on the other, he found time to study the sinner’s Guidebook and the heathen’s need.

And, wherever the Bible goes, it helps to bring about a feeling of brotherly love. An English trader was reminded of this when he landed on a once cannibal island. Seeing a native studying his Bible, the trader said to him, “Oh, that Book is out of date in our country.” “It is?” asked the native. “ Well, if it were out of date here, you would have been eaten long ago.”

Have you been drinking deeply enough of the Bible’s living water to wash the dust of common things out of your throat? Drink deeply, and you will long for it as the “hart panteth after the water brooks.” Drink deeply, and you will seek it as the desert traveler seeks the cooling spring. You will find it the panacea for all human needs.