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Going to the Source of Light, April 4
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple.
Psalm 119:130
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It is sometimes the case that men of intellectual ability, improved by
education and culture, fail to comprehend certain passages of Scripture, while
others who are uneducated, whose understanding seems weak and whose
minds are undisciplined, will grasp the meaning, finding strength and comfort
in that which the former declare to be mysterious or pass by as unimportant.
Why is this? It has been explained to me that the latter class do not rely upon
their own understanding. They go to the Source of light, the One who has
inspired the Scriptures, and with humility of heart ask God for wisdom, and
they receive it. There are mines of truth yet to be discovered by the earnest
seeker.
Christ represented the truth as treasure hid in a field. It does not lie right
upon the surface; we must dig for it. But our success in finding it does not
depend so much on our intellectual ability as on our humility of heart and the
faith which will lay hold upon divine aid.
Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we shall be continually liable
to wrest the Scriptures or to misinterpret them. There is much reading of
the Bible that is without profit and in many cases is a positive injury. When
the Word of God is opened without reverence and without prayer; when
the thoughts and affections are not fixed upon God or in harmony with His
will, the mind is clouded with doubt; and in the very study of the Bible,
skepticism strengthens. The enemy takes control of the thoughts, and he
suggests interpretations that are not correct.
Whenever men are not seeking, in word and deed, to be in harmony
with God, then, however learned they may be, they are liable to err in their
understanding of Scripture, and it is not safe to trust to their explanations.
When we are truly seeking to do God’s will, the Holy Spirit takes the precepts
of His Word and makes them the principles of the life, writing them on
the tablets of the soul. And it is only those who are following the light
already given that can hope to receive the further illumination of the Spirit.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:704, 705
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