SEARCH the Scriptures, for in them ye think, ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me,” John 5:3939Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39). A Sunday school teacher, before leaving his class, to go to live a long way in the country, gave to each of the boys a Testament, and on the fly leaf of each he had written the following verse:-
“Here is the Book whose leaves display
Jesus the Life, the Truth, the Way.
Read it with diligence and prayer;
Search it, and you will find Him there.”
Do you know of a more valuable or useful present to give anyone than God’s Word? Think of all the riches and gifts that God, as the Creator, has given to this earth, and compare them with what Jesus says: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away;” and it is He who says, “Search the Scriptures,” for “they are they which testify of Me.” (Matt. 24:3535Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35). John 5:3939Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39).)
We would like all of you to be little Timothys. What we mean is that you should do as Timothy did—read the Scriptures often.
“Continue thou,” wrote the Apostle Paul to him, “in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;. and that from, a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 3:14, 1514But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:14‑15).
Ah! dear young readers, Timothy had been brought up, like many of you, under the teaching of God’s Word; and he not only read it, and listened to it, but, because he believed it, it made him “wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
No doubt all the boys in the class valued the present of the Testament given by the teacher, but some did not use theirs. Let us be like the boy that did read his. Let us listen again to the reason he gave when he was asked why:
Read it with diligence and prayer
Search it and you will find Him there.
Yes, search the Scriptures, for Jesus says again, “He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath One that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him, in the last day.” John 12:4848He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:48).
This is very solemn, but Jesus came not to judge: He came to save (ver. 47.)
Messages of God’s Love 10/28/1923