10
Christ’s Object Lessons
Mind. He did not direct the people to study men’s theories about God,
His word, or His works. He taught them to behold Him as manifested
in His works, in His word, and by His providences.
Christ did not deal in abstract theories, but in that which is essential
to the development of character, that which will enlarge man’s capacity
for knowing God, and increase his efficiency to do good. He spoke to
men of those truths that relate to the conduct of life, and that take hold
upon eternity.
It was Christ who directed the education of Israel. Concerning the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord He said, “Thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them
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for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine
eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on
thy gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:7-9
. In His own teaching, Jesus showed
how this command is to be fulfilled—how the laws and principles
of God’s kingdom can be so presented as to reveal their beauty and
preciousness. When the Lord was training Israel to be the special
representatives of Himself, He gave them homes among the hills and
valleys. In their home life and their religious service they were brought
in constant contact with nature and with the word of God. So Christ
taught His disciples by the lake, on the mountainside, in the fields and
groves, where they could look upon the things of nature by which He
illustrated His teachings. And as they learned of Christ, they put their
knowledge to use by co-operating with Him in His work.
So through the creation we are to become acquainted with the
Creator. The book of nature is a great lesson book, which in connection
with the Scriptures we are to use in teaching others of His character,
and guiding lost sheep back to the fold of God. As the works of God
are studied, the Holy Spirit flashes conviction into the mind. It is not
the conviction that logical reasoning produces; but unless the mind has
become too dark to know God, the eye too dim to see Him, the ear too
dull to hear His voice, a deeper meaning is grasped, and the sublime,
spiritual truths of the written word are impressed on the heart.
In these lessons direct from nature, there is a simplicity and purity
that makes them of the highest value. All need the teaching to be
derived from this source. In itself the beauty of nature leads the soul