and trust; the child to whom the tenderness and justice and
long-suffering of father and mother and teacher interpret the love and
justice and long-suffering of God; the child who by trust and submission
and reverence toward his earthly protectors learns to trust and obey and
reverence his God. He who imparts to child or pupil such a gift has
endowed him with a treasure more precious than the wealth of all the
ages,—a treasure as enduring as eternity.
_Relation of Dress to Education_
“IN MODEST APPAREL.” “THE
KING’S DAUGHTER IS ALL
GLORIOUS WITHIN”
[Sidenote: _The Teacher’s Rival_]
No education can be complete that does not teach right principles in
regard to dress. Without such teaching, the work of education is too
often retarded and perverted. Love of dress, and devotion to fashion,
are among the teacher’s most formidable rivals and most effective
hindrances.
[Sidenote: _A Burden in the Home_]
Fashion is a mistress that rules with an iron hand. In very many homes
the strength and time and attention of parents and children are absorbed
in meeting her demands. The rich are ambitious to outdo one another in
conforming to her ever-varying styles; the middle and poorer classes
strive to approach the standard set by those supposed to be above them.
Where means or strength is limited, and the ambition for gentility is
great, the burden becomes almost insupportable.
With many it matters not how becoming, or even beautiful, a garment may
be, let the fashions change, and it must be remade or cast aside. The
members of the household are doomed to ceaseless toil. There is no time
for training the children, no time for prayer or Bible study, no time
for helping the little ones to become acquainted with God through His
works.
There is no time and no money for charity. And often the home table is
stinted. The food is ill selected and hastily prepared, and the demands
of nature are but partially supplied. The result is wrong habits of
diet, which create disease or lead to intemperance.
[Sidenote: _Source of Temptation_]
The love of display produces extravagance, and in many young people
kills the aspiration for a nobler life. Instead of seeking an education,
they early engage in some occupation to earn money for indulging the
passion for dress. And through this passion many a young girl is
beguiled to ruin.
In many a home the family resources are overtaxed. The father, unable to
supply the demands of the mother and the children, is tempted to
dishonesty, and again dishonor and ruin are the result.
[Sidenote: _Fashion and Public Worship_]
Even the day and the services of worship are not exempt from fashion’s
domination. Rather they afford opportunity for the greater display of
her power. The church is made a parade-ground, and the fashions are
studied more than the sermon. The poor, unable to meet the demands of
custom, stay away from church altogether. The day of rest is spent in
idleness, and by the youth often in associations that are demoralizing.
At school, the girls are by unsuitable and uncomfortable clothing
unfitted either for study or for recreation. Their minds are
preoccupied, and the teacher has a difficult task to awaken their
interest.
[Sidenote: _A Counter-Influence_]
For breaking the spell of fashion, the teacher can often find no means
more effective than contact with nature. Let pupils taste the delights
to be found by river or lake or sea; let them climb the hills, gaze on
the sunset glory, explore the treasures of wood and field; let them
learn the pleasure of cultivating plants and flowers; and the importance
of an additional ribbon or ruffle will sink into insignificance.
[Sidenote: _Higher Aims_]
Lead the youth to see that in dress, as in diet, plain living is
indispensable to high thinking. Lead them to see how much there is to
learn and to do; how precious are the days of youth as a preparation for
the life-work. Help them to see what treasures there are in the word of
God, in the book of nature, and in the records of noble lives.
Let their minds be directed to the suffering which they might relieve.
Help them to see that by every dollar squandered in display, the spender
is deprived of means for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and
comforting the sorrowful.
They can not afford to miss life’s glorious opportunities, to dwarf
their minds, to ruin their health, and to wreck their happiness, for the
sake of obedience to mandates that have no foundation in reason, in
comfort, or in comeliness.
[Sidenote: _Taste and Neatness in Dress_]
At the same time the young should be taught to recognize the lesson of
nature, “He hath made everything beautiful in its time.”[364] In dress,
as in all things else, it is our privilege to honor our Creator. He
desires our clothing to be not only neat and healthful, but appropriate
and becoming.
A person’s character is judged by his style of dress. A refined taste, a
cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of simple and
appropriate attire. Chaste simplicity in dress, when united with modesty
of demeanor, will go far toward surrounding a young woman with that
atmosphere of sacred reserve which will be to her a shield from a
thousand perils.
Let girls be taught that the art of dressing well includes the ability
to make their own clothing. This is an ambition that every girl should
cherish. It will be a means of usefulness and independence that she can
not afford to miss.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Highest Beauty_]
It is right to love beauty and to desire it; but God desires us to love
and to seek first the highest beauty,—that which is imperishable. The
choicest productions of human skill possess no beauty that can bear
comparison with that beauty of character which in His sight is of “great
price.”
Let the youth and the little children be taught to choose for themselves
that royal robe woven in heaven’s loom,—the “fine linen, clean and
white,”[365] which all the holy ones of earth will wear. This robe,
Christ’s own spotless character, is freely offered to every human being.
But all who receive it will receive and wear it here.
Let the children be taught that as they open their minds to pure, loving
thoughts and do loving and helpful deeds, they are clothing themselves
with His beautiful garment of character. This apparel will make them
beautiful and beloved here, and will hereafter be their title of
admission to the palace of the King. His promise is,—
“They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.”[366]
_The Sabbath_
“IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND
YOU; THAT YE MAY KNOW THAT
I AM JEHOVAH”
[Sidenote: _The Sabbath a Sign_]
The value of the Sabbath as a means of education is beyond estimate.
Whatever of ours God claims from us, He returns again, enriched,
transfigured, with His own glory. The tithe that He claimed from Israel
was devoted to preserving among men, in its glorious beauty, the pattern
of His temple in the heavens, the token of His presence on the earth. So
the portion of our time which He claims is given again to us, bearing
His name and seal. It is “a sign,” He says, “between Me and you; ...
that ye may know that I am Jehovah;” because “in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed
it.”[367] The Sabbath is a sign of creative and redeeming power; it
points to God as the source of life and knowledge; it recalls man’s
primeval glory, and thus witnesses to God’s purpose to re-create us in
His own image.
[Sidenote: _The Family Day_]
The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God’s
purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day more than on
any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden. It was God’s
plan for the members of the family to be associated in work and study,
in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his household, and
both father and mother as teachers and companions of their children. But
the results of sin, having changed the conditions of life, to a great
degree prevent this association. Often the father hardly sees the faces
of his children throughout the week. He is almost wholly deprived of
opportunity for companionship or instruction. But God’s love has set a
limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath He places His merciful
hand. In His own day He preserves for the family opportunity for
communion with Him, with nature, and with one another.
[Sidenote: _The Sabbath and Nature_]
Since the Sabbath is the memorial of creative power, it is the day above
all others when we should acquaint ourselves with God through His works.
In the minds of the children the very thought of the Sabbath should be
bound up with the beauty of natural things. Happy is the family who can
go to the place of worship on the Sabbath as Jesus and His disciples
went to the synagogue,—across the fields, along the shores of the lake,
or through the groves. Happy the father and mother who can teach their
children God’s written word with illustrations from the open pages of
the book of nature; who can gather under the green trees, in the fresh,
pure air, to study the word and to sing the praise of the Father above.
By such associations parents may bind their children to their hearts,
and thus to God, by ties that can never be broken.
[Sidenote: _Bible Study_]
As a means of intellectual training, the opportunities of the Sabbath
are invaluable. Let the Sabbath-school lesson be learned, not by a hasty
glance at the lesson scripture on Sabbath morning, but by careful study
for the next week on Sabbath afternoon, with daily review or
illustration during the week. Thus the lesson will become fixed in the
memory, a treasure never to be wholly lost.
In listening to the sermon, let parents and children note the text and
the scriptures quoted, and as much as possible of the line of thought,
to repeat to one another at home. This will go far toward relieving the
weariness with which children so often listen to a sermon, and it will
cultivate in all a habit of attention and of connected thought.
[Sidenote: “_Great Reward_”]
Meditation on the themes thus suggested will open to the student
treasures of which he has never dreamed. He will prove in his own life
the reality of the experience described in the scripture:—
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”[368]
“I will meditate in Thy statutes.” “More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold.... Moreover by them is Thy servant
warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward.”[369]
_Faith and Prayer_
“FAITH IS THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS
HOPED FOR.” “BELIEVE THAT YE
RECEIVE, AND YE SHALL HAVE”
[Sidenote: _What Is Faith?_]
Faith is trusting God,—believing that He loves us, and knows best what
is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His
way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our
weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness.
Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership
and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed
out as secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession
of these principles.
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from
God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.
[Sidenote: _How to Exercise Faith_]
How to exercise faith should be made very plain. To every promise of God
there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength
is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the promise itself. “The seed
is the word of God.”[370] As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so
surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we
have the gift.
Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which
some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as exercised in
appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must
often bring it in contact with the word.
[Sidenote: _Power of God’s Word_]
In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of
God’s word. In the creation, “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it
stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they
were;”[371] for when He calls them, they are.
[Sidenote: _Results of Faith_]
How often those who trusted the word of God, though in themselves
utterly helpless, have withstood the power of the whole world,—Enoch,
pure in heart, holy in life, holding fast his faith in the triumph of
righteousness against a corrupt and scoffing generation; Noah and his
household against the men of his time, men of the greatest physical and
mental strength and the most debased in morals; the children of Israel
at the Red Sea, a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves, against the
mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe; David, a shepherd
lad, having God’s promise of the throne, against Saul, the established
monarch, bent on holding fast his power; Shadrach and his companions in
the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar on the throne; Daniel among the lions, his
enemies in the high places of the kingdom; Jesus on the cross, and the
Jewish priests and rulers forcing even the Roman governor to work their
will; Paul in chains led to a criminal’s death, Nero the despot of a
world-empire.
Such examples are not found in the Bible only. They abound in every
record of human progress. The Vaudois and the Huguenots, Wycliffe and
Huss, Jerome and Luther, Tyndale and Knox, Zinzendorf and Wesley, with
multitudes of others, have witnessed to the power of God’s word against
human power and policy in support of evil. These are the world’s true
nobility. This is its royal line. In this line the youth of to-day are
called to take their places.
[Sidenote: _In Daily Life_]
Faith is needed in the smaller no less than in the greater affairs of
life. In all our daily interests and occupations the sustaining strength
of God becomes real to us through an abiding trust.
Viewed from its human side, life is to all an untried path. It is a path
in which, as regards our deeper experiences, we each walk alone. Into
our inner life no other human being can fully enter. As the little child
sets forth on that journey in which, sooner or later, he must choose his
own course, himself deciding life’s issues for eternity, how earnest
should be the effort to direct his trust to the sure Guide and Helper!
[Sidenote: _A Shield from Temptation_]
As a shield from temptation and an inspiration to purity and truth, no
other influence can equal the sense of God’s presence. “All things are
naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” He is
“of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity.”[372]
This thought was Joseph’s shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the
allurements of temptation his answer was steadfast: “How can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God?”[373] Such a shield, faith, if
cherished, will bring to every soul.
[Sidenote: _God’s Protecting Presence_]
Only the sense of God’s presence can banish the fear that, for the timid
child, would make life a burden. Let him fix in his memory the promise,
“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them.”[374] Let him read that wonderful story of Elisha in
the mountain city, and, between him and the hosts of armed foemen, a
mighty encircling band of heavenly angels. Let him read how to Peter, in
prison and condemned to death, God’s angel appeared; how, past the armed
guards, the massive doors and great iron gateway with their bolts and
bars, the angel led God’s servant forth in safety. Let him read of that
scene on the sea, when to the tempest-tossed soldiers and seamen, worn
with labor and watching and long fasting, Paul the prisoner, on his way
to trial and execution, spoke those grand words of courage and hope: “Be
of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among
you.... For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am,
and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before
Cæsar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” In
the faith of this promise Paul assured his companions, “There shall not
a hair fall from the head of any of you.” So it came to pass. Because
there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole
ship-load of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved. “They escaped
all safe to land.”[375]
These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but
that the same faith which wrought in God’s servants of old might work in
us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now
wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.
[Sidenote: _Help for the Self-Distrustful_]
Let the self-distrustful, whose lack of self-reliance leads them to
shrink from care and responsibility, be taught reliance upon God. Thus
many a one who otherwise would be but a cipher in the world, perhaps
only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”[376]
[Sidenote: _The Guardian of Right_]
For the child also who is quick to resent injuries, faith has precious
lessons. The disposition to resist evil or to avenge wrong is often
prompted by a keen sense of justice and an active, energetic spirit. Let
such a child be taught that God is the eternal guardian of right. He has
a tender care for the beings whom He has so loved as to give His dearest
Beloved to save. He will deal with every wrong-doer.
“For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.”[377]
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it
to pass.... He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.”[378]
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of
trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for
Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.”[379]
[Sidenote: _Complete in Christ_]
The compassion that God manifests toward us, He bids us manifest toward
others. Let the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the revengeful, behold
the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter, unretaliating as
a sheep dumb before her shearers. Let them look upon Him whom our sins
have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure, to
forbear, and to forgive.
Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied,
every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence
developed.
“Ye are complete in Him.”[380]
[Sidenote: _Prayer_]
[Sidenote: _“Believe That Ye Receive”_]
Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they need to be studied
together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science; it is a
science that every one who would make his life-work a success must
understand. Christ says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”[381] He makes it
plain that our asking must be according to God’s will; we must ask for
the things that He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in
doing His will. The conditions met, the promise is unequivocal.
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for
wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may
ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God
that we have received.
We need look for no outward evidence of the blessing. The gift is in the
promise, and we may go about our work assured that what God has promised
He is able to perform, and that the gift, which we already possess, will
be realized when we need it most.
[Sidenote: _Secret Prayer_]
To live thus by the word of God means the surrender to Him of the whole
life. There will be felt a continual sense of need and dependence, a
drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a necessity; for it is the
life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place; but it
is secret communion with God that sustains the soul-life.
It was in the mount with God that Moses beheld the pattern of that
wonderful building which was to be the abiding-place of His glory. It is
in the mount with God,—in the secret place of communion,—that we are to
contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled so
to fashion our character-building that to us may be fulfilled His
promise, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.”[382]
[Sidenote: _The Saviour’s Example_]
It was in hours of solitary prayer that Jesus in His earth-life received
wisdom and power. Let the youth follow His example in finding at dawn
and twilight a quiet season for communion with their Father in heaven.
And throughout the day let them lift up their hearts to God. At every
step of our way He says, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right
hand; ... fear not; I will help thee.”[383] Could our children learn
these lessons in the morning of their years, what freshness and power,
what joy and sweetness, would be brought into their lives!
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Cause of Doubt_]
These are lessons that only he who himself has learned can teach. It is
because so many parents and teachers profess to believe the word of God
while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of Scripture has no
greater effect upon the youth. At times the youth are brought to feel
the power of the word. They see the preciousness of the love of Christ.
They see the beauty of His character, the possibilities of a life given
to His service. But in contrast they see the life of those who profess
to revere God’s precepts. Of how many are the words true that were
spoken to the prophet Ezekiel:—
Thy people “speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying,
Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the
Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before
thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them;
for with their mouth they show much love; but their heart goeth after
their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of
one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for
they hear thy words; but they do them not.”[384]
[Sidenote: _The Bible to Shape the Life_]
It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction,
to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and
our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really
is,—the word of the living God,—the word that is our life, the word that
is to mould our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God’s word
as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those
who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism
and infidelity in the youth.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Time for Prayer_]
An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the
world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the
very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses
body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is
speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. “Be still, and
know that I am God.”[385]
Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing
of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried
steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing
perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for
counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their
burdens they return to their work.
These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the
secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to
wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power.
They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they
will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will
be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.
[Sidenote: _A Precious Experience_]
Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with
Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him,—this is our need. Happy
will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools
when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious
experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:—