Only a seed–but it chanced to fall
In a little cleft of a city wall;
And taking root grew bravely up
Till a tiny blossom crowned its top.
Only a thought–but the work it wrought
Could never by tongue or pen be taught;
For it ran through a life like a tread of gold,
And the life bore fruit an hundred-fold.
Only a word–but ‘twas spoken in love,
With a whispered prayer to the Lord above,
And the angels in heaven rejoiced once more,
For a newborn soul “entered in by the door.”
Just how to use the Bible so as to get from it the help it has to give, perplexes many good people. Some have an almost superstitious regard for the book. They think it will ward off dangers and bring blessings. Many a soldier, as he enters a battle, throws away his pack of cards and puts a New Testament in his pocket and then feels safer. Some people suppose the Bible will answer their questions and mark out their duty for them in a mechanical, though and infallible, way. So when they have some serious problem which they cannot solve they open the book at random and put their finger on a verse with their eyes closed, and take that verse as containing and inspired direction. But in no such way does the Bible offer to help us. It is not a fetish.
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