Have Fellowship With Jesus Through the Word, April 24

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1, 2, NKJV.BLJ 124.1

No man, woman, or youth can attain to Christian perfection and neglect the study of the Word of God. By carefully and closely searching His Word we shall obey the injunction of Christ, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” This search enables the student to closely observe the divine Model, for they testify of Christ. The Pattern must be inspected often and closely in order to imitate it.BLJ 124.2

As human beings become acquainted with the history of the Redeemer, they discover in themselves defects of character; their unlikeness to Christ is so great that they see they cannot be followers without a very great change in their lives. Still they study, with a desire to be like their great Exemplar; they catch the looks, the spirit, of their beloved Master; by beholding they become changed. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” It is not in looking away from Him, and in losing sight of Him, that we imitate the life of Jesus; but in dwelling upon and talking of Him, and seeking to refine the taste and elevate the character; seeking to approach through earnest, persevering effort, through faith and love, the perfect Pattern.BLJ 124.3

The attention being fixed upon Christ, His image, pure and spotless, becomes enshrined in the heart as “the chief among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely.” Even unconsciously we imitate that with which we are familiar. By having a knowledge of Christ, His words, His habits, His lessons of instruction, and by borrowing the virtues of the character which we have so closely studied, we become imbued with the spirit of the Master which we have so much admired....BLJ 124.4

The Word of God, spoken to the heart, has an animating power, and those who will frame any excuse for neglecting to become acquainted with it will neglect the claims of God in many respects. The character will be deformed, the words and acts a reproach to the truth.—The Review and Herald, November 28, 1878.BLJ 124.5