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Primal Object of Education
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The character of Christ is the one perfect pattern which we are
to copy. Repentance and faith, the surrender of the will, and the
consecration of the affections to God are the means appointed for
the accomplishment of this work. To obtain a knowledge of this
divinely ordained plan should be our first study; to comply with its
requirements, our first effort.
Solomon declares that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.”
Proverbs 9:10
. Concerning the value and importance of
this wisdom, he writes: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore
get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
Proverbs
4:7
. “For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than
rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared
unto her.”
Proverbs 3:14, 15
.
The School of Christ
He who is seeking with diligence to acquire the wisdom of
human schools should remember that another school also claims
him as a student. Christ was the greatest teacher the world ever
saw. He brought to man knowledge direct from heaven. The lessons
which He has given us are what we need for both the present and the
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future state. He sets before us the true aims of life, and how we may
secure them.
In the school of Christ, students are never graduated. Among
the pupils are both old and young. Those who give heed to the
instructions of the divine Teacher constantly advance in wisdom,
refinement, and nobility of soul, and thus they are prepared to enter
that higher school where advancement will continue throughout
eternity.
Infinite Wisdom sets before us the great lessons of life—lessons
of duty and happiness. These are often hard to learn, but without
them we can make no real progress. They may cost us effort and
tears, and even agony, but we must not falter or grow weary. We
shall at last hear the Master’s call, “Child, come up higher.”
It is in this world, amid its trials and temptations, that we are
to gain a fitness for the society of the pure and holy. Those who
become so absorbed in less important studies that they cease to learn