In Deuteronomy 6:5-9 we have directions as to our duty in regard to the Bible. We will quote it in full: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart; And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
This is a complete model for Bible study. It was not intended to be local, for the Jews merely, but is for all persons, in all time. Not that we are to wear phylacteries as the Jews did; this passage does not command that.
The first part explains the last. The Word of God is to be studied and meditated upon so much that it will have a controlling influence over every act that our hands perform. We should work so that all that we do will bear the impress of the Word. Thus it will be for a sign upon our hands. In like manner the forehead stands for the mind, which is to be stored with the truths of God's Word. They are ever to be before our eyes.
But notice especially the command to talk of the Word when we sit in the house, and when we walk by the way, and when we lie down, and when we rise up. How can this be done? Must we carry a Bible with us continually? That would be very inconvenient, and almost impossible. We could not use it while we were at work, nor in the night. The previous expression explains the whole thing: "And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart." (Deuteronomy 6:6)
That is the secret of Bible knowledge. The Bible must be studied so carefully that the words will be indelibly fixed in our mind and heart. Then we can meditate upon them wherever we are, or whatever we are doing.--Present Truth, August 29, 1895--Deuteronomy 6:5-9
E. J. Waggoner