Do we read and meditate daily, or do we say we have not the time, that we have too many things to do? Do we have valid reasons or are they only excuses because we do not wish to study? We plead that we are at work from morning until night, and so cannot meditate. Most of us, unless we are teachers and must give our undivided attention to what we are doing, have many quiet moments to ourselves during the course of the day when we can reflect and meditate upon a verse or two of Scripture. There are the people who operate machinery who have anything from five minutes to half an hour while the machine works itself. Do we just stand, or sit and read a paper, or indulge in idle chatter when we could use this time to meditate? It does not matter what we do, whether we are butchers, bakers or if we work in a warehouse, office or store, we can all, if we wish, find odd moments to reflect. Then there are the often long journeys to and from work while driving the car, sitting on the train or standing in the subway, where there are boundless opportunities to meditate and study and thus draw near to God. You sisters who are housewives and stay home all day, when the washing is being done, or while the dinner is in the oven, perhaps you, too, can meditate a little instead of switching on the television or the radio. There are legions of opportunities we all have during the course of our daily lives when we can study To show ourselves approved. When we are busy making excuses, saying we have not the time, we are pandering to the flesh, which is weak. Remember, the heart is deceitful and is bound to make excuses; in fact we would be surprised if it did not do so.
How do we spend our leisure?
When our day at work is finished and we are home and have just had our evening meal, what do we do now? Do we gather the entire family together and read the Word of God, do first things first, in other words, or do we switch on the radio and listen to our favorite musical recital, then fall asleep in the chair, or do we listen the remainder of the evening to one thing after another? Perhaps it is the television which has priority. Do we view the one or two programs we have previously mark-out and then turn it off, or are we a prey to it, its slave instead of its master? There are many in the world who have not the strength of mind or will power to turn it off, but sit there until all hours of the night glued to the set until their eyes become affected. We, the brethren and sisters of Christ, ought to be able to moderate and control the time we spend watching television. Let us be equally careful in controlling our children, lest they grow up to be even worse than we are.
Perhaps we pick up our newspaper in the evening and study that instead of the Word of God, greedily scanning page by page and word by word its magic print, until we become too weary to do anything else. Maybe we have such friendly neighbors that they are always dropping in to see us and we just cannot hurt their feelings. Well, the next time they come, get your Bibles out, tell them you are just going to do the readings, give them a Bible, and invite them to join you. You will find they will either consider you too peculiar to bother with and not come any more, in which case you will be able to read in future without interruptions, or they will be interested and come again, and you will possibly be able to teach them the Truth. Do not let your friends and neighbors be the determining factor as to whether you will read or not. David, again speaking of this Word of God, says that It is sweeter than honey to his mouth. Let me tell you the story we once heard of a lady who was blind, and, owing to an accident to her hands which had left her fingers coarse and rough, could not decipher the lettering of her Braille Bible which had been given to her. In desperation, as a last farewell gesture, she lifted it to her lips to kiss it goodbye, when, suddenly, she found to her joy that her lips were more sensitive than her fingers. After considerable effort she learned to read the Bible with her lips. To this lady it literally became sweeter than honey to her mouth; and yet you and I who have eyes to see with often neglect their use. Oh, what a shame this is to us!
Do we thirst for God?
The psalmist writes: “As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God . . .” (Psalms 42:1). Do we thirst after the Lord in a like manner, hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness? Is our constant aim in life seeking first the kingdom of God? In the Gospel of John we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . .” (John 1:1). “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory . . .” (Verse 14). The Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh was the manifestation of the glory of God, and the words He spoke they were Spirit and Life, and the men and women who accepted these words had the power of Jesus within their lives. Our Lord was so filled with this power he could say to the winds, Peace be still, and they were stilled. Today in this Twentieth Century age that you and I are living in, men are probing into every field of scientific knowledge. But even though they have made great discoveries in telepathy, thought, mind reading, hypnotism and kindred subjects considering the power of mind over matter, they have not yet determined the ultimate. The great mind of God has revealed glimpses of this truth to us. For example, when the Lord created the heavens and the earth, He spoke and it was done. “Let there be light and there was light” (Genesis 1:3) was all that was necessary, or again,” . . . they that sow wickedness . . . by the breath of his nostrils they are consumed” (Job 4: 8,9). The Lord does not need to wield a sword in order to destroy, he commands and it is done. Similarly the Lord Jesus said: “Lazarus, Come Forth” and he came forth. All these things prove the great power of God. And we, brethren and sisters, by the reading of this Book have an opportunity to imbibe this Word, this power, which will make us giants among our neighbors, and a guide even to those who were our teachers.
Learn to teach
There is another reason why we should study, in order to become ministers or preachers of the Word of God, not merely to be able to give a reason for the hope that is within us, but in order to be able to give a thorough exposition which from time to time becomes necessary. The question is, are we brethren training ourselves for this work? Here in America there is a great need for brethren to go out in the highways and byways to preach the Word of God, with a Bible in their hands. We need brethren who in a competent manner can preach the gospel with clarity, simplicity and conviction. There can be no doubt that we have very few brethren of such a caliber. Our ecclesias are filled with third rate speakers who have never bothered to develop the talents God has given them, allowing them to lie dormant within them, simply because they will not study the Word of God.
Where are our Mutual Improvement classes in this country, where the older brethren are training and teaching the younger ones how to read, preside and preach the Word ?
In the world, a salesman would not be successful in making a living if he was not thoroughly acquainted with the advantages as well as disadvantages of his company’s products, and able to give a very good exposition on any of them. Sometimes they are able to do this only after extensive training, and yet we expect our brethren to get up on the platform and give exhortations, which is far more important, and yet without any training. This should clearly indicate the great need for classes where our brethren can receive instruction and guidance in the work of the Truth. So let us face realities and recognize our need and be humble enough to strive to do better, improving the quality of our work in the Truth. If we have someone in our midst who can help us in this, then let us not be too proud to accept such help. Let us not be so high-minded as to think we know everything regarding the art of presenting the Truth in the most positive and convincing manner.
Memorize the word
Now for a few words of advice to our younger brethren. As a part of your training for the future work of the Truth, when you do your daily readings, if you take one verse each day and memorize it, or if that is too much, learn one a week, you would in the course of a year know either 365 or 52 verses as the case may be, and in the course of a few years would cultivate a sound understanding of the Word of God. We do not suggest that you learn these verses merely in parrot fashion, but rather to put them into practice, when, like Isaac, you can go into the fields and meditate upon the wonders of His truth. In this manner the Word will be always with you, enabling you to go over the highlights of the previous readings and to digest them more thoroughly.
The Human Brain. The human mind is very wonderful and complex, and the more we learn of it the more we marvel. The scientific Boffins who invented the electronic brain tells us that it is modeled upon the human brain, and while there are thousands of cells and tubes and millions of miles of wiring, it works exactly like our own human brain which is so small and compact by comparison. They tell us that each of these cells can store only a certain amount of knowledge, just like our human brain, and when the storehouse is filled you cannot put any more in. We can fill our memory boxes with Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Astrology; in other words, the things of the world; or we can fill them with the Word of God. The choice is ours, we can study either the things of the world or we can study God’s Word.
The regular reading of the Word of God will give us faith, a faith without which “it is impossible to please him . . (Hebrews 11:6). So let us be sure that we regularly partake of this spiritual food, this manna provided from heaven, imbibing it daily in order to Grow in Grace until in the mercy of God we reach “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One