50
Christ’s Object Lessons
The youth should be instructed in a similar way. They should be
taught to till the soil. It would be well if there were, connected with
every school, lands for cultivation. Such lands should be regarded as
God’s own schoolroom. The things of nature should be looked upon
as a lesson book which His children are to study, and from which they
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may obtain knowledge as to the culture of the soul.
In tilling the soil, in disciplining and subduing the land, lessons
may constantly be learned. No one would think of settling upon a
raw piece of land, expecting it at once to yield a harvest. Earnestness,
diligence, and persevering labor are to be put forth in treating the soil
preparatory to sowing the seed. So it is in the spiritual work in the
human heart. Those who would be benefited by the tilling of the soil
must go forth with the word of God in their hearts. They will then
find the fallow ground of the heart broken by the softening, subduing
influence of the Holy Spirit. Unless hard work is bestowed on the soil,
it will not yield a harvest. So with the soil of the heart: the Spirit of
God must work upon it to refine and discipline it before it can bring
forth fruit to the glory of God.
The soil will not produce its riches when worked by impulse. It
needs thoughtful, daily attention. It must be plowed often and deep,
with a view to keeping out the weeds that take nourishment from the
good seed planted. Thus those who plow and sow prepare for the
harvest. None need stand in the field amid the sad wreck of their
hopes.
The blessing of the Lord will rest upon those who thus work the
land, learning spiritual lessons from nature. In cultivating the soil the
worker knows little what treasures will open up before him. While
he is not to despise the instruction he may gather from minds that
have had an experience, and from the information that intelligent men
may impart, he should gather lessons for himself. This is a part of his
training. The cultivation of the soil will prove an education to the soul.
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He who causes the seed to spring up, who tends it day and night,
who gives it power to develop, is the Author of our being, the King of
heaven, and He exercises still greater care and interest in behalf of His
children. While the human sower is planting the seed to sustain our
earthly life, the Divine Sower will plant in the soul the seed that will
bring forth fruit unto life everlasting.
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