Bible Study and the Mind
77
God and meditate upon it as they should. The lack of firm, decided
willpower, which is manifest in life and character, results from neglect
of the sacred instruction of God’s Word. They do not by earnest
effort direct the mind to that which would inspire pure, holy thought
and divert it from that which is impure and untrue.—
The Ministry of
Healing, 458
(1905).
It Reveals the Rules for Holy Living—The Lord, in His great
mercy, has revealed to us in the Scriptures His rules of holy living, His
commandments, and His laws. He tells us therein the sins to shun; He
explains to us the plan of salvation and points out the way to heaven.
If they obey His injunction to “search the Scriptures,” none need be
ignorant of these things.
The actual progress of the soul in virtue and divine knowledge is
by the plan of addition—adding constantly the graces which Christ
made an infinite sacrifice to bring within the reach of all. We are finite,
but we are to have a sense of the infinite.
The mind must be taxed, contemplating God and His wonderful
plan for our salvation. The soul will thus be lifted above commonplace
things and fastened upon things that are eternal.
The thought that we are in God’s world and in the presence of
the great Creator of the universe, who made man in His own image,
after His own likeness, will lift the mind into broader, higher fields
for meditation than any fictitious story. The thought that God’s eye is
watching us, that He loves us and cared so much for fallen man as to
give His dearly beloved Son to redeem us that we might not miserably
perish, is a great one, and whoever opens his heart to the acceptance
and contemplation of these great themes will never be satisfied with
trivial, sensational subjects.—
The Review and Herald, November 9,
1886
.
[95]
A New Heart Means a New Mind—The words “A new heart
will I give you” mean, “A new mind will I give you.” This change of
heart is always attended by a clear conception of Christian duty, an
understanding of truth. The clearness of our views of truth will be
proportionate to our understanding of the Word of God. He who gives
the Scriptures close, prayerful attention will gain clear comprehension
and sound judgment, as if in turning to God he had reached a higher
grade of intelligence.-
The Review and Herald, November 10, 1904
.