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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
And no devising of men has ever improved upon that plan. To the
world’s departure from it is owing, to a large degree, the poverty and
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wretchedness that exist today.
By the Israelites, industrial training was regarded as a duty.
Every father was required to see that his sons learned some useful
trade. The greatest men of Israel were trained to industrial pursuits.
A knowledge of the duties pertaining to housewifery was considered
essential for every woman; and skill in these duties was regarded as
an honor to women of the highest station.
Various industries were taught in the schools of the prophets,
and many of the students sustained themselves by manual labor.
Christ’s Example
The path of toil appointed to the dwellers on earth may be hard
and wearisome; but it is honored by the footprints of the Redeemer,
and he is safe who follows in this sacred way. By precept and
example, Christ has dignified useful labor. From His earliest years
He lived a life of toil. The greater part of His earthly life was spent
in patient work in the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth. In the garb of a
common laborer the Lord of life trod the streets of the little town in
which He lived, going to and returning from His humble toil; and
ministering angels attended Him as He walked side by side with
peasants and laborers, unrecognized and unhonored.
When He went forth to contribute to the support of the family by
His daily toil He possessed the same power as when on the shores
of Galilee He fed five thousand hungry souls with five loaves and
two fishes. But He did not employ His divine power to lessen His
burdens or lighten His toil. He had taken upon Himself the form
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of humanity, with all its attendant ills, and He did not flinch from
its severest trials. He lived in a peasant’s home; He was clothed
with coarse garments; He mingled with the lowly; He toiled daily
with patient hands. His example shows us that it is man’s duty to be
industrious and that labor is honorable.