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Fundamentals of Christian Education
any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord
loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn
unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,
and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is
God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them
that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations;
and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He
will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face.
Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and
the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.” If God’s
commandments are to be binding for a thousand generations, it will
take them into the kingdom of God, into the presence of God and His
holy angels. This is an argument that cannot be controverted. The
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commandments of God will endure through all time and eternity. Are
they, then, given us as a burden?—No. “And the Lord commanded us
to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always,
that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.” The Lord gave
His people commandments, in order that by obeying them they might
preserve their physical, mental, and moral health. They were to live
by obedience; but death is the sure result of the disobedience of the
law of God.
The Old and the New Testament Scriptures need to be studied daily.
The knowledge of God and the wisdom of God come to the student
who is a constant learner of His ways and works. The Bible is to be our
light, our educator. When we will acknowledge God in all our ways;
when the youth are educated to believe that God sends the rain and the
sunshine from heaven, causing vegetation to flourish; when they are
taught that all blessings come from Him, and that thanksgiving and
praise are due to Him; when with fidelity they acknowledge God, and
discharge their duties day by day, God will be in all their thoughts;
they can trust Him for tomorrow, and that anxious care that brings
unhappiness to so many lives, will be avoided. “Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you.”
The first great lesson in all education is to know and understand the
will of God. Take the knowledge of God with you through every day
of life. Let it absorb the mind and the whole being. God gave Solomon