HUDSON TAYLOR The man who believed God by Marshall Broomhall

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THE MAN WHO BELIEVED GOD
consideration of his method of reading that "Book of
Certainties", as he called it.
From his youth he had been taught to read the Bible
systematically, and concerning his own plan he wrote
in later years as follows:
"We would earnestly advise the consecutive reading of
the whole Word of God to all who do not so read it; and to
all who are able to do so, that the whole Bible be read over
in the course of the year; but where this cannot be done
prayerfully and thoughtfully, rather let a shorter portion be
taken for daily reading, still going through the whole of the
Word consecutively.
"The plan of reading is comparatively unimportant. A
very simple one was pointed out to us many years ago,
namely, that Bagster's Bible, exclusive of the Psalms, contains
a leaf, or four columns for every day of the year. The
New Testament is one-fourth of the Bible, so that an average
reading of three columns of the Old Testament, and one of
the New each day, will carry one through by the end of the
year. There are also eighty-eight columns of the Psalms, and
ninety-one days in a quarter, so that a daily average reading
of rather less than a column will allow us to go through the
Psalms four times in a year.
"It will be noted that we have mentioned that an average
reading of so much of the Old, or New Testament, or the
Psalms, as the case may be, will suffice; for, of course, no
intelligent reader would stop at the end of a column irrespective
of the subject matter, but would read to-day a little
more and to-morrow a little less, as the subject might call
for. And again, some portions would be found so full of
meditation as to necessitate a shorter reading, to be made up
for at another time.
"We have ourselves used this method for more than
thirty years with great profit, though it has often necessitated
rising before daylight in order to accomplish it.".
This habit of early rising for Bible reading and prayer
calls to mind one of his aphorisms which would make an