Chapter 20—Bible Teaching and Study
“Incline thine ear unto wisdom;”
“search for her as for hid treasures.”
In childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus studied the Scriptures.
As a little child He was daily at His mother’s knee taught from the
scrolls of the prophets. In His youth the early morning and the evening
twilight often found Him alone on the mountainside or among the
trees of the forest, spending a quiet hour in prayer and the study of
God’s word. During His ministry His intimate acquaintance with the
Scriptures testifies to His diligence in their study. And since He gained
knowledge as we may gain it, His wonderful power, both mental
and spiritual, is a testimony to the value of the Bible as a means of
education.
Our heavenly Father, in giving His word, did not overlook the
children. In all that men have written, where can be found anything
that has such a hold upon the heart, anything so well adapted to awaken
the interest of the little ones, as the stories of the Bible?
In these simple stories may be made plain the great principles
of the law of God. Thus by illustrations best suited to the child’s
comprehension, parents and teachers may begin very early to fulfill
the Lord’s injunction concerning His precepts: “Thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in
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thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up.”
Deuteronomy 6:7
.
The use of object lessons, blackboards, maps, and pictures, will
be an aid in explaining these lessons, and fixing them in the memory.
Parents and teachers should constantly seek for improved methods.
The teaching of the Bible should have our freshest thought, our best
methods, and our most earnest effort.
In arousing and strengthening a love for Bible study, much depends
on the use of the hour of worship. The hours of morning and evening
worship should be the sweetest and most helpful of the day. Let it be
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