p. 12 | Why I Love God's Book by Matilda Erickson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 4, 1916

Why I Love God's Book

By Matilda Erickson

MATILDA ERICKSON

I AM learning to love the Bible because it has never failed to meet the needs of my own personal experience; and as I learn what it has done for others, I am persuaded that it meets all the needs of every human heart.

In heathen lands or in civilized countries, in prisons or in palaces, in times of famine or in days of feasting, in poverty or in prosperity, that precious Book speaks to the human heart. When enjoying the comforts of peace or when suffering the calamities of war; while absorbed in the things of this world or while meditating on the glories of the next; when thrilling with exuberant health or when languishing on beds of sickness; when rejoicing over the cradle or when weeping over the casket; when all doubt, perplexity, and fear struggle for possession, or when pleasure, wealth, and popularity lead to forgetfulness; yes, under all circumstances, as many have testified, the Book of books has a message for the human heart—just the message that it needs.

And I love the Bible reverently because it is true. Monuments and history, friends and foes, are telling in their own way that the inspired Word is “true and righteous altogether.” The perfect harmony that prevails throughout the many books of the Bible, written by men of very different type, testifies to its truthfulness. Gladstone said of the Bible, “The historical development of our religion is one of the most wonderful parts of human history, and in my opinion affords one of the strongest demonstrations of its [the Bible's] truth.”

And I love the Bible because it shows me the way of salvation. From Genesis to Revelation its pages, in symbol and in fact, tell the story of the victorious life, and demonstrates how to live it. Its teachings are so simple that the ignorant may understand, and yet so deep that the most learned pore over its pages in adoration and wonder. Daniel Webster said, “I have read the Bible through many times. It is the book of all others for lawyers as well as divines, and I pity the man who cannot find in it a rich supply of thought and rule for conduct.”

Goethe testifies, “It is a belief in the Bible, the fruit of deep meditation, that has served me as a guide of my moral and literary life.” Woodrow Wilson, speaking of the Bible, said, “Here is the way of life. . . . Walk ye in it, and it will lead you to the city of light.”

I love the Bible because it inspires me with courage and determination to press on. The men and women on its pages are so human; they did not always succeed; sometimes they, too, failed. The Bible record shows me how patiently and sympathetically God dealt with his erring children, and reminds me that “he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” It is so comforting to know that the Father understands me, and I know he does; for the pages of his Book mirror my own heart and meet its hidden needs. Why should I not love the Book that tells of God's wonderful love, of his constant care, and of his unquenchable desire to save me?

But I think I love the Bible most of all because it makes Jesus more real to me than any earthly friend. He is always near. He always has time to visit.

There is nothing I cannot talk over with him, and he always understands, sympathizes, and gives the counsel needed. You and I may have him walk so close beside us that he can hear our thoughts and feel our heartaches. He is the one Friend we can always keep. He is the one Friend we cannot spare; for truly, as he has said, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” He is the one Friend through whom you and I can do all things we should do to be true Christians, and the Bible is the book that will bring him into our lives and make him the closest and most real of all Friends.

Do you love the Bible? If you do not, there is only one explanation. You do not know the Book. You have not been drinking deeply enough of its living waters to wash the dust of common things out of your throat. Drink deeply, and you will long for it as the “hart panteth after the water brooks.” Drink deeply, and you will seek it as the desert traveler seeks the cooling spring. Drink deeply, and you will find it the panacea for all human needs.