p. 20 | The Open Bible in Every Home by George B. Starr

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 8, 1910

The Open Bible in Every Home

By George B. Starr

How Lay Members May Begin to Hold Cottage Bible Readings

(Second reading)

“The Open Bible in Every Home” should be our motto. Then the question should follow: What can I do personally to aid in getting this neglected Book open in the homes of my neighbors, and awakening a permanent interest in its study?

The first friendly visit must precede any attempt to conduct a definite Bible study. If any member of the family is ill, a wide door is opened to call and offer any neighborly assistance, and at such a time it is easy to introduce points of dietetic reform, and hints or experience in the use of nature’s simple remedies,—pure air, simple foods, fruits, grains, and nuts, and the use of water in sickness and health.

If you have read in your own home, with personal interest, the beautiful book, “Ministry of Healing,” you will be able to select from among its many treasures something appropriate to read to a neighbor. Just a little is better than too much. Read a paragraph or two from the chapters on “Helps to Daily Living,” “Ministry of the Home,” or “The Mother” (see pages 376, 377, and 378 for some of the sweetest and best things ever written of the mother’s work). These good words never fail to touch a tired mother’s heart, and open it to the impressions and leadings of the Spirit.

Read the chapter on “Diet and Health” before making your visit, and then select pointed paragraphs that have impressed your own mind. A short Bible study on health may be introduced, without calling it a Bible reading. Simply ask such questions as, “Have you noticed the original bill of fare that our Heavenly Father gave to his children in their Eden home?” If they reply, “Why, no, not particularly,” or, “I do not remember just what it was,” you can then ask for their own Bible, and turning to Gen. 1:29, read: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Here is the meat, the true food, that a loving Father provided for his own children, whom he wished to see enjoy perfect health. 3 John 2.

The experience of Daniel and his companions (Dan. 1:8-20), and the results of the test between this diet and the food from the king’s table, introduce an interesting and instructive illustration of a practical test on the diet question. Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that the “pulse” which Daniel ate included all fruits, grains, vegetables, and nuts, and excluded anything that had to be killed.

You can show by one or two texts, such as Ps. 78:12-31, with 1 Cor. 10: 1-11, that the record of these experiences was especially made for us who were to be living in the last days, to protect us against the rapid increase of disease, caused by wrong habits of eating and drinking.

The importance of using such books as “Ministry of Healing,” “Steps to Christ,” and “Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing” can not be too strongly urged. We should be so familiar with

these books that they will be woven into our own experience, and we be able readily to find passages to read to a neighbor, beside the sick-bed, or to a tired mother while she continues her work, or sits with you while quieting a child.

We have known as many as thirty copies of “Ministry of Healing” to be sold by one lady as a result of reading portions of the book to neighbors. The early chapters of the work, “Our Example,” “Days of Ministry,” “With Nature and With God,” “Prayer for the Sick,” and “Mind Cure,” are all good, and so also are other portions.

The plan here suggested is not a new theory, to be tested, but is the very simple method we are using constantly in work with all classes. Tact, skill, and ease in meeting people will come with experience. Do the best you can, and do it in love. God can so fill your heart with his love before you leave your home, or while you are making the effort to bless others, in answer to your earnest prayers before leaving home, that your ministry will be sweet and acceptable; your own health, physical and spiritual, will be renewed; and joy, the very joy of Christ, will flow into your life.

Hundreds and thousands of loving visits should be made, selections read, and short Bible readings held, that are not held because fear of failure is holding us back from the close personal touch with our neighbors, into which the Great Master Visitor wishes to bring us. But let us try. Better fail trying than not to make the effort. Success will follow where we least expect it, and in a manner far exceeding our highest hopes.

It is not always wise to try to offer prayer with your neighbor. Circumstances must lead in this matter. Christ did not often pray in public, but constantly in secret. Beside the sick-bed and with God-fearing people, a short, earnest prayer will be refreshing and acceptable, and at other times the circumstances may call for it.

Upon leaving, if invited to call again, it may be well to suggest that you would be pleased to do so. At the second call, direct the attention to the prophecy relating to the increase of knowledge and its remarkable fulfilment in this generation.

GEORGE B. STARR.