But, in these things, however good and helpful they may be, we are receiving God’s Truth SECOND-HAND, diluted through human channels, and, to quite an extent, glossed over with human ideas and traditions.

Such things cannot possibly take the place of our Reading for Ourselves the BIBLE ITSELF, and grounding, for Ourselves, our Faith and Hope and Life, Directly on God’s Word, rather than on what men say about God’s Word.

God’s Word Itself is the Weapon of the Spirit of God for the Redemption and Perfection of the human soul. It is not enough to listen to others talk and teach and preach about the Bible. We need to keep ourselves, Every One of us, in Direct Touch with God’s Word. It is the Power of God in our hearts.

Bible Reading is a Basic Christian Habit. We do not mean that we should worship the Bible as a fetish; but we do worship the God and the Saviour that the Bible tells us about. And because we Love our God and our Saviour that the Bible tells us about. And because we Love our God and our Saviour, we Love Dearly and Devotedly the Book that is from Him and about Him.

Nor do we mean that the Habit of Bible Reading is in itself a virtue; for it is possible to read the Bible without applying its teachings to one’s own life; and there are those who read the Bible, and yet are mean and crooked and un-Christian. But they are the exception.

As a rule, Bible Reading, if done in the right spirit, is a Habit out of which All Christian Virtues Grow, the Most Effective Character-Forming Power known to men.

As an Act of Religious Devotion. Our attitude toward the Bible is a pretty sure indication of our attitude toward Christ. If we Love a person, we love to Read about him, do we not?

If we could only bring ourselves to think of our Bible Reading as an act of devotion to Christ, we might be inclined to treat the matter less lightly.

It is a Glorious thing to be a Christian. The Most Exalted Privilege any mortal man can have is to Walk Through Life Hand in Hand with Christ as Saviour and Guide; or, to put it more correctly, to toddle along at His side, and, though always stumbling, Never Letting Go of His Hand.

This personal relation of each of us to Christ is one of the Intimate things of life, and we do not talk much about it, probably because we realize that we are so pitifully unworthy to wear His Name. But deep down in our hearts, in our serious moods, we know that, in spite of our weakness, our worldliness, our frivolity, our selfishness, and our sins, we love Him more than we love anything else in the world; and in our saner moments, we feel that we would not willingly offend or hurt Him for anything. But we are thoughtless.

Well, now, the Bible is the Book that tells about Christ. Is it possible to Love Christ, and at the same time be complacently indifferent to His Word? IS IT POSSIBLE?

The Bible is the Best Devotional Book. Booklets for daily devotions, now advertised so abundantly by various denominational publishing houses, may have their place. But they are No Substitute for the Bible. The Bible is God’s Own Word. And no other book can take its place. Every Christian, young and old, should be a Faithful Reader of the Bible.

George Muller, who, in his Orphanages in Bristol, England, did, by Prayer and Trust, one of the most remarkable things in Christian history, attributed his success, on the human side, to his love for the Bible. He said:
“I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture. It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it to my heart, and practice what I find there. I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy, happy, happy.”