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Faithful Mothers Honored in the Judgment, November 21
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So
now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the
Lord.
1 Samuel 1:27, 28
, NIV.
The fulfillment of Hannah’s vow to dedicate her child to the Lord was not
deferred until he could be presented at the tabernacle. From the earliest dawn of
intellect she trained his infant mind to love and reverence God, and to regard himself
as the Lord’s. By every familiar object surrounding him she sought to lead his
thoughts up to the Creator.
When separated from her child, the faithful mother’s solicitude did not cease.
He was the subject of her prayers....
Would that every mother could realize how great are her duties and her respon-
sibilities, and how great will be the reward of faithfulness. The mother’s daily
influence upon her children is preparing them for everlasting life or eternal death.
She exercises in her home a power more decisive than the minister in the desk, or
even the king upon his throne. The day of God will reveal how much the world
owes to godly mothers for men who have been unflinching advocates of truth and
reform—men who have been bold to do and dare, who have stood unshaken amid
trials and temptations; men who chose the high and holy interests of truth and the
glory of God, before worldly honor or life itself.
When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened; when the “well
done” of the great Judge is pronounced, and the crown of immortal glory is placed
upon the brow of the victor, many will raise their crowns in sight of the assembled
universe, and pointing to their mother say, “She made me all I am through the grace
of God. Her instruction, her prayers, have been blessed to my eternal salvation.”...
God has ordained that with families and nations or with individuals, virtue is the
basis of happiness....
By the thoughts and feelings cherished in early years, every youth is determining
his own life history. Correct, virtuous, manly habits formed in youth will become a
part of the character, and will usually mark the course of the individual through life.
The youth may become vicious or virtuous, as they choose....
Young men of today may become as precious in the sight of the Lord as was
Samuel. They may have their names enrolled in the book of life, to be looked upon
with pleasure by the Monarch of the Universe and the angelic host. By faithfully
maintaining their Christian integrity, the young may, like the noble Luther, exert a
mighty influence in the work of reform. Such men are needed at this time. God has
a position and a work for every one of them (
The Signs of the Times, November 3,
1881
).
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