MIF 9:2 (Mar-Apr 2977)
The Daily Reading of God’s Word
It has always seemed to me that the true way to know the Bible is to read it through. It is only so that we can follow the unveiling of the divine purpose, from the Dawn of Genesis to the Perfect Day of the divine writings of John. It is only so that we can obtain a connected view of the wide scope of Revelation. To read in different, unconnected passages, now of Poetry, now of History, now of Doctrine, prevents the mind from getting proper focus. We are apt by that method to concentrate on a few familiar passages, instead of listening to all that God has spoken to men’s hearts. There is, probably, nothing more vital to an accurate knowledge of the Bible than the good old practice of reading it thoughtfully and steadily through…
But let it always be remembered that the profoundest knowledge of the Word comes from the illuminating grace of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to unlock and unfold its sacred mysteries. Ask Him to reveal the glories of our Lord in every chapter. Ask Him to enable you to “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.” Ask Him, finally, to enable you to become not a forgetful hearer or reader, but a doer of the Word. See to it that your reading is combined with the faith that claims of God the fulfillment, in your own experience, of all He has promised. No prayer, therefore, is more salutary, as you open your Bible, morning by morning, than the familiar old words of the psalmist: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”