Bible Teaching and Study
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whose knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham
His servant, tarried at that altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah.
No less effective today will be the teaching of God’s word when it
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finds as faithful a reflection in the teacher’s life.
It is not enough to know what others have thought or learned about
the Bible. Everyone must in the judgment give account of himself
to God, and each should now learn for himself what is truth. But in
order to do effective study, the interest of the pupil must be enlisted.
Especially by the one who has to deal with children and youth differing
widely in disposition, training, and habits of thought, this is a matter
not to be lost sight of. In teaching children the Bible, we may gain
much by observing the bent of their minds, the things in which they
are interested, and arousing their interest to see what the Bible says
about these things. He who created us, with our various aptitudes, has
in His word given something for everyone. As the pupils see that the
lessons of the Bible apply to their own lives, teach them to look to it
as a counselor.
Help them also to appreciate its wonderful beauty. Many books
of no real value, books that are exciting and unhealthful are recom-
mended, or at least permitted to be used, because of their supposed
literary value. Why should we direct our children to drink of these
polluted streams when they may have free access to the pure fountains
of the word of God? The Bible has a fullness, a strength, a depth of
meaning, that is inexhaustible. Encourage the children and youth to
seek out its treasures both of thought and of expression.
As the beauty of these precious things attracts their minds, a soft-
ening, subduing power will touch their hearts. They will be drawn to
Him who has thus revealed Himself to them. And there are few who
will not desire to know more of His works and ways.
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The student of the Bible should be taught to approach it in the
spirit of a learner. We are to search its pages, not for proof to sustain
our opinions, but in order to know what God says.
A true knowledge of the Bible can be gained only through the aid
of that Spirit by whom the word was given. And in order to gain this
knowledge we must live by it. All that God’s word commands, we are
to obey. All that it promises, we may claim. The life which it enjoins
is the life that, through its power, we are to live. Only as the Bible is
thus held can it be studied effectively.