Knowledge Received through God’s Word
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bear good fruit. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:16
.
Even the tares have a lesson. They are of Satan’s sowing, and, if left
unchecked, spoil the wheat by their rank growth.
Fathers and mothers, teach your children of the wonder-working
power of God. His power is manifest in every plant, in every tree that
bears fruit. Take the children into the garden and explain to them how
He causes the seed to grow. The farmer plows his land and sows the
seed, but he cannot make the seed grow. He must depend upon God to
do that which no human power can do. The Lord puts His own Spirit
into the seed, causing it to spring into life. Under His care the germ
breaks through the case enclosing it and springs up to develop and
bear fruit.
As the children study the great lessonbook of nature, God will
impress their minds. As they are told of the work that He does for
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the seed, they learn the secret of growth in grace. Rightly understood,
these lessons lead to the Creator, teaching those simple, holy truths
that bring the heart into close touch with God.
A Lesson of Obedience
God’s laws for nature are obeyed by nature. Cloud and storm,
sunshine and shower, dew and rain, all are under the supervision of
God and yield obedience to His command. In obedience to the law of
God the spire of grain bursts through the earth, “first the blade, then
the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”
Mark 4:28
. The fruit is first
seen in the bud, and the Lord develops it in its proper season because
it does not resist His working. So the birds fulfill God’s purpose as
they make their long migrations from land to land, guided through
trackless space by the hand of infinite power.
Can it be that man, made in the image of God, endowed with reason
and speech, shall alone be unappreciative of His gifts and disobedient
to His laws? Will those who might be elevated and ennobled, fitted to
be colaborers with Him, be content to remain imperfect in character
and to cause confusion in our world? Shall the bodies and souls of
God’s purchased inheritance be hampered with world-bound habits
and unholy practices? Shall they not reflect the beauty of Him who has
done all things well, that through His grace imperfect man might hear