I used to know a grand old preacher in Murfreesboro by the name of C. M. Pullias. He was called the "Walking Bible". He didn't have much of a formal education, but he knew his Bible by heart. Much of it he had memorized. Rarely did he read directly from the Bible when he preached, but he quoted volumes of scripture. You could follow along with your Bible, and he never missed a word. What a wonderful ability. But, he was a "Walking Bible" in more ways than one. Not only did he know the scriptures, he lived them out in his everyday life. He was one of Paul's "living epistles."

How would you like to become a "Walking Bible"? I have heard people say something like, "Oh, I wish I could do that," or "I wish I knew the Bible that well". Such knowledge does not come by accident. Neither does it come over night. It takes time and hard work.

First, a "Walking Bible" must meditate. Just reading the scriptures is good, but it is not good enough. There must be study and meditation. David wrote that the righteous man delights "in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." (Psa. 1:2) Again in Psalm 119:15, 16: "1 will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.". In verse 97 of that same psalm, he declared: "0 how love I thy law! It is my meditation all day." (v. 97). Over in the New Testament, the apostle counseled Timothy to "meditate upon these things. . . ." (I Tim. 4:15)

Second, a "Walking Bible" must memorize. David wrote: "Thy word have I held in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" Psa. 119:11) Again he declared: "I will not forget thy word" (Psa. 116:16) Memorization takes time and effort. It is a mental exercise. The brain is a muscle that needs exercising. The more it is exercised, the more it will grow. The more a person memorizes, the easier it becomes. One should begin the habit of memorizing when he is young. But, that does not mean that older folk cannot memorize also. Some people say that they cannot memorize, but there are things they do memorize. Usually they have to memorize in connection with their job or profession, They memorize certain things in games they play. There are things they do every day that requires them to fall back on what they have committed to memory. We usually remember what we want to remember. The same is true of the scriptures. I'm not saying it's easy. But, I am saying that it is very unusual to find anyone who is absolutely unable to memorize. It comes by determination and persistence.

Third, a "Walking Bible" must manifest. Not only did Paul tell Timothy to meditate but to manifest, to give thyself wholly to them, (i.e. his words or teaching) that thy profiting may appear to all." (I Tim. 4:15) He was to meditate upon what Paul had written and live it out in his own life. There is no profit without manifestation. James wrote, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only . . ." (Jas. 1:22)

Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." (2 Cor. 3:2) Christians are living epistles. The only Bible that some people read is the epistle of our lives. What so you suppose they read there? It should conform to what they read in God's word.

I challenge each of you to become a "Walking Bible".