doubt, or even oppose this influence, and neglect the opportunities which are offered to us for conversation with the Lord; that is, we neglect the study of His Word. It is the neglect of the Word which keeps us in darkness and ignorance; and because we do not consult the Word, which is the truth and the light, we have not the means of discovering our evils; and thus they lie beneath, hidden and undiscovered, like festering wounds, endangering the life of the soul.
If you ask yourself. Do you read every day a portion of the Word? must you answer "No: not every day." Then be sure that you are in danger of repelling the Divine influence, and closing the understanding against the light of its truth. In other words, your heart is likely to become more depraved, and your understanding more darkened, and such daily neglect must end in the destruction of the soul.
A great authority has said, "Let the man who desires to have his mind enlightened on the things of heaven, read the Word every day, one or two chapters, because, so far as we are in the understanding of the Word, so far we are in light: for the Word is the Divine medium of conjunction with the Lord, and of consociation with the angels. By the Word the Lord is present in the whole world, and heaven is conjoined to the human race. Further, when a man who accounts the Word holy, is reading and understanding it in its literal sense, the angels of the Lord's celestial and spiritual kingdoms are present, understanding it in their respective senses. The Word in the letter is like a cabinet, in which lie in order precious stones, pearls, and diadems; and when a man accounts the Word holy, and reads it for the sake of the uses of
