192
Education
Since the Sabbath is the memorial of creative power, it is the day
above all others when we should acquaint ourselves with God through
His works. In the minds of the children the very thought of the Sabbath
should be bound up with the beauty of natural things. Happy is the
family who can go to the place of worship on the Sabbath as Jesus
and His disciples went to the synagogue—across the fields, along the
shores of the lake, or through the groves. Happy the father and mother
who can teach their children God’s written word with illustrations
from the open pages of the book of nature; who can gather under the
green trees, in the fresh, pure air, to study the word and to sing the
praise of the Father above.
By such associations parents may bind their children to their hearts,
and thus to God, by ties that can never be broken.
As a means of intellectual training, the opportunities of the Sabbath
are invaluable. Let the Sabbath-school lesson be learned, not by a
hasty glance at the lesson scripture on Sabbath morning, but by careful
study for the next week on Sabbath afternoon, with daily review or
[252]
illustration during the week. Thus the lesson will become fixed in the
memory, a treasure never to be wholly lost.
In listening to the sermon, let parents and children note the text and
the scriptures quoted, and as much as possible of the line of thought,
to repeat to one another at home. This will go far toward relieving the
weariness with which children so often listen to a sermon, and it will
cultivate in all a habit of attention and of connected thought.
Meditation on the themes thus suggested will open to the student
treasures of which he has never dreamed. He will prove in his own life
the reality of the experience described in the scripture:
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was
unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”
Jeremiah 15:16
.
“I will meditate in Thy statutes.” “More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold.... Moreover by them is Thy servant
warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”
Psalm 119:48
;
19:10, 11
.
[253]