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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Flavor Your Spirit with the Words of God

"Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord.
I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like  reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems — without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved."
Quoted from Charles Spurgeon  ["Mr. Spurgeon as a Literary Man,” in The Autobiography of Charles H. Spurgeon, Compiled from His Letters, Diaries, and Records by His Wife and Private Secretary, vol. 4, 1878-1892 (Curtis & Jennings, 1900)]

Suggested updated versions of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the original, are listed below. Some of these are available in the SS Library. Just ask me!
The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English
The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come (illustrated)
Little Pilgrim's Progress: From John Bunyan's Classic, Helen Taylor (ages 9-12)
Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress, Oliver Hunkin (ages 9-12)
The Pilgrim's Progress (Unabridged, FREE for Kindle)



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