Do not neglect the Word of God.

There is absolutely no advance in holy living for any man or woman that neglects the Word of God. In fact, nothing is more necessary to the sustaining and strengthening of the vital principle in us than a diligent and habitual feeding upon the Scriptures. “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “Thy words were found, and I did eat them”; and “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

What testimonies these are, even from the Old Testament Scriptures! The Word of God you can afford to meditate on. Lord Bacon says there are some books that are to be tasted, a few that are to be chewed and digested; and the Word of God is food that it does not do to taste—you must chew, digest, and assimilate it for your wants.

As you roll it over and over, as a sweet morsel under your tongue, it will get to be sweeter and sweeter, and more and more prepared for this process of spiritual assimilation. A mere superficial reading does comparatively little good; but to find out what it means, to enter into the spirit of it—the letter killeth, the spirit giveth life—to compare Scripture with Scripture, to pray much over it, to get illumination from the Spirit upon it; and, above all, to embody it in life and practice—this is making the Word of God a part of yourself; like the tree, taking the water out of the river, changing it into sap, and changing the sap into leaf, bud. blossom, and fruit, according to the 1st Psalm. Do not neglect the Word of God.

A. T. Pierson, A Spiritual Clinique: Four Bible Readings Given at Keswick in 1907 (New York: Gospel Publishing House, 1907), 15–17.