be written through
the instrumentality of His servants, and it contains that which I ought to
know, and the knowledge of which will lead me to true happiness; therefore
I ought to read again and again this most precious book, this book of
books, most earnestly, most prayerfully, and with much meditation; and in
this practice I ought to continue all the days of my life. For I was
aware, though I read it but little, that I knew scarcely anything of it.
But instead of acting thus, and being led by my ignorance of the word of
God to study it more, my difficulty in understanding it, and the little
enjoyment I had in it, made me careless of reading it (for much prayerful
reading of the Word, gives not merely more knowledge, but increases the
delight we have in reading it); and thus, like many believers, I
practically preferred, for the first four years of my divine life, the
works of uninspired men to the oracles of the living God. The consequence
was, that I remained a babe, both in knowledge and grace. In knowledge I
say; for all true knowledge must be derived, by the Spirit, from the Word.
And as I neglected the Word, I was for nearly four years so ignorant, that
I did not clearly know even the fundamental points of our holy faith. And
this lack of knowledge most sadly kept me back from walking steadily in
the ways of God. For it is the truth that makes us free, (John viii. 31,
32,) by delivering us from the slavery of the lusts of the flesh, the
lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life. The Word proves it. The
experience of the saints proves it; and also my own experience most
decidedly proves it. For when it pleased the Lord in Aug. 1829, to bring
me really to the Scriptures, my life and walk became very different. And
though even since that I have very much fallen short of what I might and
ought to be, yet, by the grace of God, I have been enabled to live much
nearer to Him than before.

If any believers read this, who practically prefer other books to the
Holy Scriptures, and who enjoy the writings of men much more than the word
of God, may they be warned by my loss. I shall consider this book to have
been the means of doing much good, should it please the Lord, through its
instrumentality, to lead some of His people no longer to neglect the Holy
Scriptures, but to give them that preference, which they have hitherto
bestowed on the writings of men. My dislike to increase the number of
books would have been sufficient t