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Education
The study of the Bible demands our most diligent effort and perse-
vering thought. As the miner digs for the golden treasure in the earth,
so earnestly, persistently, must we seek for the treasure of God’s word.
In daily study the verse-by-verse method is often most helpful. Let
the student take one verse, and concentrate the mind on ascertaining
the thought that God has put into that verse for him, and then dwell
upon the thought until it becomes his own. One passage thus studied
until its significance is clear is of more value than the perusal of many
chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction
gained.
One of the chief causes of mental inefficiency and moral weakness
is the lack of concentration for worthy ends. We pride ourselves on
the wide distribution of literature; but the multiplication of books,
even books that in themselves are not harmful, may be a positive
evil. With the immense tide of printed matter constantly pouring
from the press, old and young form the habit of reading hastily and
superficially, and the mind loses its power of connected and vigorous
thought. Furthermore, a large share of the periodicals and books that,
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like the frogs of Egypt, are overspreading the land, are not merely
commonplace, idle, and enervating, but unclean and degrading. Their
effect is not merely to intoxicate and ruin the mind, but to corrupt and
destroy the soul. The mind, the heart, that is indolent, aimless, falls an
easy prey to evil. It is on diseased, lifeless organisms that fungus roots.
It is the idle mind that is Satan’s workshop. Let the mind be directed
to high and holy ideals, let the life have a noble aim, an absorbing
purpose, and evil finds little foothold.
Let the youth, then, be taught to give close study to the word of
God. Received into the soul, it will prove a mighty barricade against
temptation. “Thy word,” the psalmist declares, “have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “By the word of Thy lips I
have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”
Psalm 119:11
;
17:4
.
The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with
scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and
to see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its grand
central theme, of God’s original purpose for the world, of the rise
of the great controversy, and of the work of redemption. He should
understand the nature of the two principles that are contending for
supremacy, and should learn to trace their working through the records