Reading practically.

Daily reading of the Bible.

which they present to our minds, it may safely be said that no one can truly understand the Bible, or enter at all into the spirit of its descriptions, its warnings, and its appeals.

But after all, it must still be remembered that the great object in studying the Bible is not merely to understand it. The revelation which God has made is a message sent, not to the intellect, but to the consciences and hearts of men; and unless it reaches the conscience and the heart, it entirely fails of accomplishing its object. We ought, indeed, to gain an intellectual knowledge of it, but that is only to be considered as a means to enable us the more fully to apply to our own characters and conduct, the practical lessons which it teaches.

The Sabbath seems, for most persons, the most proper time for the systematic study of the Scriptures, but a portion of the sacred volume should be read practically every day. This part of my subject does not need so full an illustration as the other, for the great difficulty in regard to reading the Scriptures practically, is a want of disposition to do it. They who really wish to learn their duty and overcome the temptations that assail them,-and who desire that the sins of their hearts and lives should be brought to their view by the word of God, will easily make for themselves an application of the truths which the Bible contains

Will not all my readers do this, faithfully and perseveringly? Resolve to bring a short portion of the preceptive or devotional parts of the Scriptures home to your heart every day; and let your object be, in this daily reading of the Bible, not so much to extend your intellectual view of the field open to you in its pages, as to increase its moral and spiritual influence upon your heart and conduct. Be not so careful, then, to read this exact quantity, or that; but to bring home some portion really and fully to the heart and to

M

Useless reading.

The apprentice.

the conscience-to do it so forcibly, that the influence of those few verses read and pondered in the morning, will go with you through the day.

Habitual reading of the Bible is, however, sometimes practiced with a different spirit from this. A boy, for example, whose parents or whose Sabbath-school teacher has convinced him that he ought to read the Bible daily, takes his book and sits down by the fire, and reads away, rapidly and thoughtlessly, the portion which comes in course. He looks up occasionally, to observe the sports of his brothers and sisters, or to join in their conversation, and then returns again to the verse which he had left. In fifteen minutes he rises from his seat, shuts his book, and pushes it into its place upon the shelf, saying, "There-I have read my chapter;" and this is the last that he knows or thinks of the Bible during the day.

Consider now another case. unfinished little room. in some

In an unfurnished and even crowded alley of a populous

city, you may see a lad,

THE APPRENTICE.

who has just arisen from his humble bed, and is ready to go forth to his daily duties. He is a young apprentice, -and must almost immediately go to kindle his morning fire, and to prepare his place of business for the labors of the day. He first, however, takes his lit tle Testament from his chest and breathes, while he opens it, a

Reading two verses aright.

silent prayer, that God will fix the lesson that he is about to read, upon his conscience and his heart. "Holy Spirit!" whispers he, "let me apply the instructions of this book to myself, and let me be governed by it to-day; so that I may perform faithfully all my duties to myself, to my companions, to my master, and to Thee." He opens the book, and reads perhaps as follows:- 'Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love, with honor preferring one another." He pauses; his faithful self-applying thoughts run through the scenes through which he is that day to pass, and he considers in what case this verse ought to influence him. "Be kindly affectioned!" I must treat my brothers and sisters, and all my companions, kindly to-day. I must endeavor to save them trouble, and to promote their happiness. "In honor preferring one another." As he sees these words, he sighs to reflect how many times he has been jealous of his fellow-apprentices, on account of marks of trust and favor shown to them, or envious of the somewhat superior privileges enjoyed by those older than himself, and he prays that God will forgive him, and make him humble and kind-hearted in future, to all around him.

“Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." He stops to consider whether he is habitually in dustrious, improving all his time in such a manner as to be of the greatest advantage to his master;-whether he is fervent in spirit; that is, cordially devoted to God's service, and full of benevolent desires for the happiness of all ;—whether he serves the Lord in what he does, that is, whether all his duties are discharged from motives of love to his Maker and Preserver. While he thus muses, the fire burns. He shuts his book, and asks God to protect him as he now goes out into the labors and temptations of the day. God does bless and protect him. He has read, indeed, but two verses; but these verses he carries in his heart, and they serve as a me

The Bible.

What quantity to read.

morial of kindness and love to man, and fidelity toward God, which accompanies him wherever he goes, and keeps him. safe and happy. The Bible is thus a light to his feet and a lamp to his paths. Which, now, of these, do you think, reads the Bible aright?

Let no child who reads this understand me to say that I consider two verses enough of the Bible to read each day. What I mean by this case is, that so much more depends upon the spirit and manner with which the Bible is read, than the quantity—that a very small portion, properly read, may be far more useful than a much larger quantity hurried over in a careless and thoughtless manner. No precise rules can be given in regard to quantity; it must vary with circumstances; and of these the individual must, in most cases, be the judge.

The Sabbath.

CHAPTER IX.

THE SABBATH.

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

My readers are undoubtedly generally aware that the present obligation to keep the Sabbath has been, by some persons, denied, on the ground that the keeping of one day in seven is a sort of ceremony, and that it was only intended to be required of the Jewish nation. I do not propose, in this chapter, to enter at all into a discussion of that subject. Most if not all, of those who will read this book, are undoubtedly satisfied in regard to it. I will, however, simply state the facts, on the ground of which the present binding authority of the Lord's-day is generally admitted by Christians.

As soon as God had finished the creation, it is stated that he rested on the seventh day and sanctified it; that is, he set it apart for a sacred use. The time and the circumstances under which this was done, sufficiently indicate that it was intended to apply to the whole race, and to extend through all time. A ceremony solemnly established at the foundation of an empire, would be universally considered as designed to extend as far and to continue as long as the empire itself should extend and continue, unless it should be distinctly repealed. And so with a duty established at the foundation of a world.