410
Child Guidance
for the happiness of man, they will be led to regard Him as a tender,
loving Father. They will see that His prohibitions and injunctions are
not made merely to show His power and authority, but that He has
the happiness of His children in view. As the character of God puts
on the aspect of love, benevolence, beauty, and attraction, they are
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drawn to love Him. You can direct their minds to the lovely birds
making the air musical with their happy songs, to the spires of grass
and the gloriously tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air.
All these proclaim the love and skill of the heavenly Artist and show
forth the glory of God.
Parents, why not make use of the precious lessons which God has
given us in the book of nature, to give our children a correct idea of His
character? Those who sacrifice simplicity to fashion and shut them-
selves away from the beauties of nature cannot be spiritually minded.
They cannot understand the skill and power of God as revealed in His
created works; therefore their hearts do not quicken and throb with
new love and interest, and they are not filled with awe and reverence
as they see God in nature
A Day to Live the Life of Eden—The value of the Sabbath as a
means of education is beyond estimate. Whatever of ours God claims
from us, He returns again, enriched, transfigured, with His own glory....
The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and
in God’s purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day
more than on any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden.
It was God’s plan for the members of the family to be associated in
work and study, in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his
household, and both father and mother as teachers and companions of
their children. But the results of sin, having changed the conditions
of life, to a great degree prevent this association. Often the father
hardly sees the faces of his children throughout the week. He is almost
wholly deprived of opportunity for companionship or instruction. But
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God’s love has set a limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath
He places His merciful hand. In His own day He preserves for the
family opportunity for communion with Him, with nature, and with
one another
23
Testimonies For The Church 2:583, 584
.
24
Education, 250, 251
.