Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

cease to advance. Let us thank God that it is not so. God is infinite; in
Him are "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And to all eternity
men may be ever searching, ever learning, and yet they can never
exhaust the treasures of His wisdom, His goodness, and His power.
Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we shall be continually
liable to wrest the Scriptures or to misinterpret them. There is much
reading of the Bible that is without profit and in many cases is a positive
injury. When the word of God is opened without reverence and without
prayer; when the thoughts and affections are not fixed upon God or in
harmony with His will, the mind is clouded with doubt; and in the very
study of the Bible, skepticism strengthens. The enemy takes control of
the thoughts, and he suggests interpretations that are not correct.
Love for Bible Study Is Not Natural
Both old and young neglect the Bible. They do not make it their
study, the rule of their life. Especially are the young guilty of this
neglect. Most of them find time to read other books, but the Book that
points out the way to eternal life is not daily studied. Idle stories are
attentively read, while the Bible is neglected. This Book is our guide to a
higher, holier life. The youth would pronounce it the most interesting
book they ever read had not their imagination been perverted by the
reading of fictitious stories.
As a people who have had great light, we are to be uplifting in our
habits, in our words, in our domestic life and association. Give the Word
its honored position as a guide in the home. Let it be regarded as the
counselor in every difficulty, the standard of every practice. Will my
brethren and sisters be convinced that there can never be true prosperity
to any soul in the family circle unless the truth of God, the wisdom of
righteousness, presides? Every effort should be made by fathers and
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