THE PRACTICAL USE OF THE BIBLE.
WHAT does the Bible tell you of yourself that you know to be true?—That you are imperfect and sinful and needy. What does the Bible tell you of God that you at once feel to be true?—That He is holy and merciful and responsive to your need. What does the Bible tell you to do and become that you at once perceive you ought to strive to do and to become?—That you should turn away from all evil-doing, and follow the light that shines in the words and face of Christ, and also in every heart that is open to God, and do good to all men, and live in the Spirit. Neither these questions nor the answers to them are speculative or theoretical; they are the same to all men; and they disclose the practical use of the sacred Scriptures, as experience demonstrates their practical and pre-eminent value. He who sincerely and persistently makes this use of the Bible will find it disclosing surprising and inexhaustible stores of inspiration, instruction, comfort, and delight. He will not worship the book as an idol, nor cast it aside as a fable; but he will treasure it as the window through which, dimmed and scarred though it be with human imperfection, streams the blessed, quickening light of God.—Selected.