| Week-Day Religion |
Chapter 2 |
Page 4 |
We are told that the Bible must be spiritually discerned. Only a spiritually minded reader finds the truest and best things in it. We must bring to it a certain kind of knowledge. This is true in all departments of life. Many persons never see anything lovely in nature. They will stand amid the most picturesque landscapes, walk amid the rarest flowers and witness the most gorgeous sunset splendor without a thrill of pleasure or an expression of admiration. They have no sympathy with nature. There are many who will pass through a grand art gallery rich with paintings and statuary, and see nothing to seize their attention, while others will spend days in enthusiastic study of the works of art that are stored there. Some knowledge of art and an interest in it are necessary to the appreciation and enjoyment of paintings and statues. In like manner, he that would find the beautiful things in the Scriptures must have a mind and heart prepared for it. Hence the more of the divine life we have in our souls, the more will the sacred pages reveal to us. It is not so much intellectual acumen and fine scholarship that we need as spiritual culture, love for Christ and the warmth of devotion.
A young lady purchased a book and read a few pages, but was not interested in it. Some months afterward she met the author, and a tender friendship sprang up, ripening into love and betrothal. Then the book was dull no longer. Every sentence had a charm for her heart. Love was the interpreter. So to those who don not know Christ personally, the Bible seems dry and uninteresting. But when they learn to know him and to love him all is changed; and the deeper their love for him becomes, the more do the sacred pages glow with beauty and light.
It is good to store away in our hearts, all along the bright years of youth, the precious truths of God’s word. In visiting the Mammoth Cave they placed lamps in our hands before we entered. It seemed a very useless and needless thing to carry those pale lights while we walked in the full blaze of noonday. But we moved down the bank and entered the cavern’s mouth. Quickly the splendor of daylight faded out, and then the lamp flames began to shine brightly. We soon found how valuable they were, and how necessary. Without them we should have been lost in the thick gloom and in the inextricable mazes of the cave. So God’s promises and comforts may not seem needful to us in the brightness of youth and in the days of health and gladness. They may then seem to shine with but a pale light. But as we move on we shall pass into shadows – the shadows of sickness, of trial, of disappointment, of sorrow – and then our beauty and splendor will shine out and prove the very joy and strength of our souls.
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