384
Child Guidance
their feet in the straight path, you yourselves are responsible if they
lose faith and courage and interest in the truth
God calls upon you to teach them to prepare to be members of the
royal family, children of the heavenly King. Co-operate with God by
working diligently for their salvation. If they err, do not scold them.
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Never taunt them with being baptized and yet doing wrong. Remember
that they have much to learn in regard to the duties of a child of God
Preparation for Special Convocations—Here is a work for fam-
ilies to engage in before coming up to our holy convocations. Let the
preparation for eating and dressing be a secondary matter, but let deep
heart-searching commence at home. Pray three times a day, and like
Jacob, be importunate. At home is the place to find Jesus; then take
Him with you to the meeting, and how precious will be the hours you
spend there. But how can you expect to feel the presence of the Lord
and see His power displayed, when the individual work of preparation
for that time is neglected?
For your soul’s sake, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of others,
work at home. Pray as you are not accustomed to pray. Let the heart
break before God. Set your house in order. Prepare your children for
the occasion. Teach them that it is not of so much consequence that
they appear with fine clothes as that they appear before God with clean
hands and pure hearts. Remove every obstacle that may have been in
their way—all differences that may have existed between themselves
or between you and them. By so doing you will invite the Lord’s
presence into your homes, and holy angels will attend you as you go
up to the meeting, and their light and presence will press back the
darkness of evil angels
Sow the Seeds of Truth in Faith—The work of the sower is a
work of faith. The mystery of the germination and growth of the seed
he cannot understand, but he has confidence in the agencies by which
God causes vegetation to flourish. He casts away the seed, expecting
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to gather it manyfold in an abundant harvest. So parents and teachers
are to labor, expecting a harvest from the seed they sow
19
Testimonies For The Church 6:94, 95
.
20
Manuscript 80.1901
.
21
Testimonies For The Church 5:164, 165
.
22
Education, 105
.