These words set before us two things of unspeakable importance; namely, individual and family responsibility. God’s people of old were responsible to keep the heart with all diligence, lest it should let slip the precious Word of God. And not only so, but they were also solemnly responsible to instruct their children and their grandchildren. Surely we too are imperatively called upon to give ourselves to the careful reading of the Word of God; we need to make the Bible our supreme and absorbing study.
It is to be feared that some of us read the Bible as a matter of duty, while we find our delight and refreshment in the newspaper and light literature. [Could we today add television, the Internet and Facebook?] Need we wonder at our shallow knowledge of Scripture? How could we know aught of the living depths or the moral glories of a volume which we merely take up as a cold matter of duty, while, at the same time, something else is literally devoured?
The Lord said to Israel, “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 11:1818Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deuteronomy 11:18)). The “heart,” the “soul,” the “hand” and the “eyes” were all to be engaged about the precious Word of God. This was real work. It was to be no empty formality, no barren routine. The whole man was to be given up in holy devotion to the statutes and judgments of God.
Our Testimony
Do we, as Christians, enter into such words as this? Has the Word of God such a place in our hearts, in our homes and in our habits? Do those who enter our houses or come in contact with us in daily life see that the Word of God is paramount with us? Do those with whom we do business see that we are governed by the precepts of Scripture? Do our children see that we live in the very atmosphere of Scripture and that our whole character is formed and our conduct governed by it? It is a delusion to imagine that the new life can be in a healthy, prosperous condition where the Word of God is habitually neglected.
We do not, of course, mean that no other book but the Bible should be read, but nothing demands greater watchfulness than the matter of reading. All things are to be done in the name of Jesus and to the glory of God, and this is among the “all things.” We should read no book that we cannot read to the glory of God and on which we cannot ask God’s blessing.
The Family Reading
Heads of houses should ponder this matter seriously. We are most fully persuaded that there ought to be in every Christian household a daily acknowledgment of God and His Word. Some may, perhaps, look upon it as bondage, as religious routine, to have regular family reading and prayer. We would ask such objectors, Is it bondage for the family to assemble at meals? Are the family reunions around the table ever regarded as a wearisome duty? Certainly not, if the family is a well ordered and happy one. Why then should it be regarded as a burdensome thing for the head of a Christian household to gather his children around him and read a few verses of the precious Word of God and breathe a few words of prayer before the throne of grace? We believe it to be a habit in perfect accordance with the teaching of both the Old and the New Testaments.
What would we think of a professing Christian who never prayed and never read the Word of God in private? Could we possibly regard him as a happy, healthy, true Christian? Assuredly not. Now if it is thus with an individual, how can a family be regarded as in a right state where there is no family reading, no family prayer, and no family acknowledgment of God or His Word?
It is by no means necessary to make it a long, wearisome service. As a rule, both in our houses and in our public assemblies, short, fresh, fervent exercises are by far the more edifying.
It may be said that there are many families who seem very particular about their morning and evening reading and prayer, and yet their whole domestic history from morning till night is a flagrant contradiction of their so-called religious service. Under such painful and humiliating circumstances, what of the family reading? Alas! it is an empty formality; in place of being a morning and evening sacrifice, it is a morning and evening lie.
For the Glory of Christ
We should measure everything in our private life, in our domestic economy, in our daily history, in all our interactions with others and in all our business transactions with that one standard — the glory of Christ. Our one grand question must be, “Is this worthy of the holy name which is called upon me?” If not, let us not touch it; let us turn our back upon it with stern decision and flee from it with holy energy. Let us not listen for a moment to the contemptible question, What harm is there in it? No truly devoted heart would ever entertain such a question. Whenever you hear anyone speaking thus, you may at once conclude that Christ is not the governing object of the heart.
We have all of us much need to consider our ways — to look well to the real state of our hearts as to Christ, for here lies the true secret of the whole matter. If the heart is not true to Him, nothing can be right in the private life, the family, or the assembly — nothing anywhere. But if the heart is true to Him, all will be right. Surely love to Christ is the grand safeguard against every form of error and evil. A heart filled with Christ has no room for anything else, but if there is no love to Him, there is no security against the wildest error or the worst form of moral evil.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted