168
Fundamentals of Christian Education
But were none of these responsibilities laid upon you, were there no
missionary fields to enter, it would yet be necessary that your children
should be educated. Whatever business parents might think suitable
for their children, whether they desired them to become manufacturers,
agriculturists, mechanics, or to follow some professional calling, they
would reap great advantages from the discipline of an education. Your
children should have an opportunity to study the Bible in the school.
They need to be thoroughly furnished with the reasons of our faith,
to understand the Scriptures for themselves. Through understanding
the truths of the Bible, they will be better fitted to fill positions of
trust. They will be fortified against the temptations that will beset
them on the right hand and on the left. But if they are thoroughly
[205]
instructed and consecrated, they may be called, as was Daniel, to
fill important responsibilities. Daniel was a faithful statesman in the
courts of Babylon; for he feared, loved, and trusted God; and in time of
temptation and peril he was preserved by the power of God. We read
that God gave Daniel wisdom, and endowed him with understanding.
Those who obtain a knowledge of God’s will, and practice the
teaching of His word, will be found faithful in whatever position
of trust they may be placed. Consider this, parents, and place your
children where they will be educated in the principles of truth, where
every effort will be made to help them to maintain their consecration, if
converted, or if unconverted, to influence them to become the children
of God, and thus fit them to go forth to win others to the truth.
Let those who have the love of truth in their hearts, estimate the
value of a soul for whom Christ has died, in the light reflected from the
cross of Calvary. There are many who feel moved by the Spirit of God
to go forth into the vineyard of the Lord. They long to seek and save
that which is lost. But because of lack of knowledge and discipline,
they are not qualified to go forth to the work of elevating and ennobling
their fellow men. Those who teach others, must themselves be taught.
They need to learn how to deal with human minds. They are to become
colaborers with Christ, improving every opportunity to impart to men
a knowledge of God. In order to be agents for God in the work of
elevating men’s minds from the earthly and sensual to the spiritual and
heavenly, the workers must be educated and trained. By becoming
learners themselves, they will better understand how to instruct others.
They must acquire mental discipline, by putting into exercise their