When a manโs heart is cold and unconcerned about religion โ when his hands are never employed in doing Godโs work โ when his feet are not familiar with Godโs ways โ when his tongue is seldom or never used in prayer and praise โ when his eyes are blind to the beauty of the kingdom of heaven โ when his mind is full of the world, and has no room for spiritual things โ when these marks are to be found in a man the word of the Bible is the right word to use about him, and that word is, โDead.โ
J. C. RyleIt may well be feared, that there is not enough Biblereading among us. It is not sufficient to have the Book. We must actually read it, and pray over it ourselves. It will do us no good, if it only lies still in our houses. We must be actually familiar with its contents, and have its texts stored in our memories and minds. Knowledge of the Bible never comes by intuition. It can only be obtained by diligent, regular, daily, attentive, wakeful reading.
J. C. Ryle