The second rule is to read the book. It is not asked that it be studied in the ordinary sense, or memorised, or even sought to be understood at first; but simply read. The purpose is to make the task as easy, as natural, and as pleasant as possible. It matters not, for the time being, how rapidly you read it, if you but read it. But is it not strange that this is one of the last things many really earnest Christians and seekers after Bible truth are willing to do? They will read books about the Bible almost without limit, but to read the books of the Bible itself is another matter. But how could one master any corresponding subject by such a method? And is it not dishonouring to God for any reason to treat His authorship thus? We are living in a time when, if only for good form, we feel an obligation to be acquainted with the best authors. But shall we say that Dante, or Shakespeare, or any other of the masters is able to interest us in what he wrote, while He who created him is unable to do so? Are we prepared to confess that God cannot write a book as capable of holding our attention as that of one of His creatures? What an indictment we are writing down against ourselves in saying that, and how it convinces us of sin! I know a lady who once travelled a long distance on a railroad with her trunk unlocked, and when she met her husband at the terminus and reported the circumstance there was naturally some emotion in her speech. She had been unable to find the key anywhere, she said, and only discovered its loss at too late a moment to have another fitted before she started upon her journey. And the trunk with all its treasures had come that whole distance with only a strap around it. "Why," exclaimed her husband, "do you not recall that when we come home from a journey I always fasten the key of the trunk to one of its handles? There's your key," pointing to the end of the trunk. The incident is recalled by the so frequent inquiry one hears for a "key" to the Bible. Its Author has provided one, and to the average person, at least in this enlightened country, it is always at hand. Read the book. [Sidenote: Read It Continuously]