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Bible Teaching and Study
119
No less effective today will be the teaching of God’s Word when
it finds as faithful a reflection in the teacher’s life.
All Must Give Account of Themselves
It is not enough to know what others have thought or learned
about the Bible. Everyone must in the judgment give account of
himself or herself to God, and each should now learn personally what
is truth. But in order to do effective study, the interest of the pupil
must be enlisted. This is a matter not to be lost sight of, especially by
teachers who have to deal with children and young people who differ
widely in disposition, training, and habits of thought. In teaching
the Bible to children, we may gain much by observing the bent of
their minds, discovering 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 students 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 rec-
ommended, or at least permitted to be used, because of their sup-
posed 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
softening, 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.
Students 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
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opinions, but 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 that it