Meditate, practice, pray

(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")

You must meditate and dwell upon what you read;
otherwise your pains and mine will be lost. The more any
man is in the contemplation of truth, the more deep and
firm impression is made upon his heart by truth. Heavenly
meditation brings out the sweetness that is in divine truths.
Not those who get most--but those who keep most, are
richest. So not those who hear most, or read most--but
those who meditate most, are most edified and enriched.

You must also practice and live out what you read. To
read much and practice nothing--is to hunt much and catch
nothing. Ah! what cause have most to sigh, that they have
heard so much, and read so much--and yet done so little!

You must also pray over what you read. Many read much,
and pray little, and therefore get little by all they read. Galen
writes of a fish called Uranoscopos, that has but one eye,
which looks continually up to heaven. When a Christian has
one eye upon his book--the other should be looking up to
heaven for a blessing upon what he reads!