The Question

Harry Miller was born in 1879, ten miles northwest of Dayton, Ohio.

He went on to become Dr. Harry Miller —a surgeon and hospital medical director. As a Seventh-day Adventist missionary, Dr. Miller spent many years in China and was instrumental in the establishment of almost twenty Adventist hospitals. Today, Dr. Miller might be most famous for pioneering the development of soy milk. Dr. Miller recalled one particular occurrence during his time in medical school.

A certain student did not know the answer to a question asked in class. The teacher made no further comment. The next day, the lecturer asked the same student the same question. Again, the student did not know that answer.

On the third day, the lecturer asked the same question of the same student, but this time the student knew the answer to the question.* Soon-to-be Doctor Miller learned a lesson. Be ready with the answer before the question is asked! One day, a man asked Jesus a question, and Jesus answered him with a question of His own. He said, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” (Luke 10:26).

Jesus was urging the man to go to the Scriptures to find the answers to his questions. His lesson for the man is the same lesson He wants us to learn today. The answers to our questions are almost always found in Scripture. Imagine if the man had answered Jesus by saying, “I have no idea what is written in the law.” Peter wrote that we should be “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). It is imperative for believers to be acquainted with the Word of God. There is power in the Word of God.

Temptation often gets the better of people for the simple reason that they are not reading the Bible, and God’s promises do not, therefore, spring readily to mind. Time spent studying God’s Word is time wisely spent.