Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word. Psalm 119:169, NKJV.
The Bible has been placed in the background, while the sayings of great men and women, so-called, have been taken in its stead. May the Lord forgive us the slight we have put upon His Word. Though inestimable treasures are in the Bible, and it is like a mine full of precious ore, it is not valued, it is not searched, and its riches are not discovered.
Mercy and truth and love are valuable beyond our power to calculate; we cannot have too great a supply of these treasures, and it is in the Word of God [that] we find out how we may become possessors of these heavenly riches, and yet why is it that the Word of God is uninteresting to many professed Christians? Is it because the Word of God is not spirit and is not life? Has Jesus put upon us an uninteresting task, when He commands us to “search the scriptures”? Jesus says, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” But spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the reason of your lack of interest is that you lack the Spirit of God.
When the heart is brought into harmony with the Word, a new life will spring up within you, a new light will shine upon every line of the Word, and it will become the voice of God to your soul. In this way you will take celestial observations, and know whither you are going, and be able to make the most of your privileges today.
We should ask the Lord to open our understanding, that we may comprehend divine truth. If we humble our hearts before God, empty them of vanity and pride and selfishness, through the grace abundantly bestowed upon us; if we sincerely desire and unwaveringly believe, the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness will shine into our minds, and illuminate our darkened understanding. Jesus is the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is the light of the world, and He bids us come unto Him and learn of Him…. He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He could not permit Himself to be turned from His one object. He allowed nothing to divert Him. This work He has given into our hands. Shall we do it?
The Review and Herald, November 24, 1891