A book to live by

I would no more spend a day without reading and studying the Bible than I would spend a day without breathing. I turn to it for inspiration and instruction.

I turn to it for guidance.

I turn to it for healing and comfort.

And I find that it is an unfailing help.

I know that there are many who approach the Bible as great literature. There are scholars who examine it as history and sociology; archaeologists who use it as a reference work; linguists who wrestle with its translation and authorship. And while I appreciate all that they do -- and much of their work enriches my own understanding of the Bible -- I take it as a book to Livem by.

Several days ago something I was working on troubled me. I wasn't sure it would come out right. So I picked up the Bible and opened it to the following: "Have not I [God] commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thous goest." n1 That's what I needed to know. I was reassured, strengthened, inspired. I was obedient to the instructions and completed the work successfully.

n1 Joshua 1:9.

At another time, after some prayer, I opened the Bible for guidance and found these words: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." n2 Pondering this, I saw clearly that the divine law and proof of God's presence, which Jesus made known throughout his ministry, was the truth of being for all time: yesterday, today, and forever. I realized better than before that the power of God which Christ Jesus brought to light remains potent and available to all of us today. That was the answer I needed. It was an answer that had divine authority and spiritual might and resolved my difficulty.

n2 Hebrews 13:8.

Nothing has made the Bible more available to me, more accessible or meaningful, than Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.m It was written by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She was an earnest student of the Bible and was healed of a life-threatening malady through a spiritual perception of its message. Her teachings in Science and Healthm are fully rooted in the Scriptures. A great number of people have found that this book has made the Bible come alive for them. It helps one to see why the Bible remains preeminent among all books.

In Science and Healthm Mrs. Eddy writes: "The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to have them understood spiritually, for only by this understanding can truth be gained." Farther along she continues, "It is this spiritual perception of Scripture, which lifts humanity out of disease and death and inspires faith." n3

n3 Science and Health,m p. 547.

I find that the more I study Science and Health,m the more earnestly I turn back to the Bible. The Bible is not a closed book but an open testament to the love of God and His perpetual care for His creation.

I study the Bible in many ways. I've read it from cover to cover a number of times. Each day I study the weekly Bible Lesson provided in the Christian Science Quarterly.m I often read and ponder the Gospels, which contain the teachings of Christ Jesus. I may take a concordance to the Bible and research what it has to say about God, man, good, law, power, and so on.

But however I read the Bible and whenever I read it, its message is with power. Anyone who has felt the power and inspiration of the Bible knows in his heart that he has found a book to live by. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. . . . With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. . . . Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. Psalms 119:1, 2, 10, 12