For the mind and the soul, as well as for the body, it is God's law that strength is acquired by effort. In harmony with this law, God has provided in His Word the means for mental and spiritual development.
The Bible contains all the principles that human beings need to understand in order to be fitted both for this life and for the life to come. And these principles may be understood by all. No one with a spirit to appreciate its teaching can read a single passage from the Bible without gaining some helpful thought. But the most valuable teaching of the Bible is not obtained by occasional or disconnected study. Its great system of truth cannot be discerned by the hasty or careless reader. Many of its treasures lie far beneath the surface, and can be obtained only by diligent research and continuous effort.
The truths that go to make up the great whole must be searched out and gathered up, "here a little, there a little." Isaiah 28:10. When thus searched out and brought together, they will be found to be perfectly fitted to one another. Each Gospel is a supplement to the others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a development of some other truth. Every principle in the Word of God has its place, every fact its bearing. And the complete structure, in design and execution, bears testimony to its Author. Only the mind of the Infinite could conceive or fashion such a structure.
In searching out the various parts and studying their relationship, the highest faculties of the human mind are called into intense activity. No one can engage in such study without developing mental power.
Value of Bible Study
The mental value of Bible study consists not only in searching out truth and bringing it together, it consists also in the effort required to grasp the themes presented. The mind that is occupied only with commonplace matters becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. If never tasked to comprehend grand and far-reaching truths, it loses the power of growth. As a safeguard against this degeneracy and a stimulus to development, nothing can equal the study of God's Word. As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book or all other books combined. No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought into contact with the thoughts of the Infinite will expand and strengthen.
And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the spiritual nature. Human beings were created for fellowship with God, and only in such fellowship can they find real life and development. Men and women who with sincere and teachable spirits study God's Word, seeking to comprehend its truths, will be brought in touch with its Author. Except by their own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of their development.
In its wide range of style and subjects the Bible has something to interest every mind and appeal to every heart. In its pages are found history, biography, and principles of government for the state and for regulating the home--principles that human wisdom has never equaled. It contains the most profound philosophy and the sweetest, most sublime poetry. Immeasurably superior in value to the productions of any human author are the Bible writings even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.
Theme of Redemption
The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation--"They shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4)--the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme--uplifting humanity--the power of God "who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57.
People who grasp this thought have before them an infinite field for study. They have the key that will unlock to them the whole treasure house of God's Word.
The science of redemption is the science of all sciences, the science that is the study of angels and all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds. It is the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Savior, the science that will be the study of God's redeemed throughout endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for mortals to engage. It will quicken the mind and uplift the soul as no other study can.
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the Word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will and received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature and recreates the soul in the image of God.
Feed Upon the Word
The mind, the soul, is built up by that on which it feeds, and it rests with us to determine what it shall be fed. It is within the power of everyone to choose the topics that shall occupy the thoughts and shape the character. Of every human being privileged with access to the Scriptures, God says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3.
With the Word of God in their hands, human beings may have such companionship as they choose. In its pages they may interface with the best and most noble of the human race, and may listen to the voice of the Eternal. As they study and meditate on the themes into which "the angels desire to look" (1 Peter 1:12), they may have angel companionship. They may follow the steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to His words as He taught on mountain and plain and sea. Living as in the atmosphere of heaven, they may impart hope to others and longings for holiness. They may themselves come closer and still closer into fellowship with the Unseen, drawing nearer and nearer the threshold of the eternal world, until the portals shall open and they enter there. The voices that will greet them are the voices of the holy ones, who, unseen, were on earth their companions--voices that here they learned to distinguish and to love. Those who through the Word of God have lived in fellowship with heaven, will find themselves at home in heaven's companionship.