Cotton Mather Exhorts Us to Study the Word of God

" The Word of God must be Read and Heard with Diligence that so you may arrive to the Knowledge that is needful for you. "

Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather, the 17th Century Puritan preacher, echoes the Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15

What is the knowledge we need to know? To begin with, it is the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again for our redemption. After understanding and receiving this truth, we need to understand how to live for Him.

Through the study of the Holy Bible, we glean the knowledge of what it means to love God and to serve Him—we learn what is our purpose in life.

Revelations 4:11 says:

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

If God has created all things (which includes us) for His pleasure, then we need to learn how to bring Him pleasure. What pleases God?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that we need to have faith in order to please Him.

In John 14:21 Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Jesus tells us that the kind of love we are to have is one that will die for another, even as He has died for us.

The Apostle Paul time and time again speaks of the knowledge of God and of the knowledge of the love of Christ. We learn of this knowledge through reading and studying of God’s Word, and we please Him when we demonstrate our faith by applying what we learn from His Word. Have you studied the Bible today?