Counsel to Teachers
443
neglected multitudes in the large cities, yet little regard has been given
to the matter.
We are not willing enough to trouble the Lord with our petitions,
and to ask Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us
to trouble Him in this matter. He wants us to press our petitions to
the throne. The converting power of God needs to be felt throughout
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our ranks. The most valuable education that can be obtained will be
found in going out with the message of truth to the places that are now
in darkness. We should go out just as the first disciples went out in
obedience to the commission of Christ. The Saviour gave the disciples
their directions. In a few words He told them what they might expect to
meet. “I send you forth,” He said, “as sheep in the midst of wolves: be
ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” These workers
were to go forth as the representatives of Him who gave His life for
the life of the world.
The Lord wants us to come into harmony with Him. If we will do
this, His Spirit can rule our minds. If we have a true understanding
of what constitutes the essential education, and endeavor to teach its
principles, Christ will help us. He promised His followers that when
they should stand before councils and judges, they were to take no
thought what they should speak. I will instruct you, He said. I will
guide you. Knowing what it is to be taught of God, when words of
heavenly wisdom are brought to our mind, we shall distinguish them
from our own thoughts. We shall understand them as the words of God,
and we shall see in the words of God wisdom and life and power....
We are to educate the youth to exercise equally the mental and the
physical powers. The healthful exercise of the whole being will give
an education that is broad and comprehensive. We had stern work to
do in Australia in educating parents and youth along these lines; but
we persevered in our efforts until the lesson was learned that in order
to have an education that was complete, the time of study must be
divided between the gaining of book-knowledge and the securing of
a knowledge of practical work. Part of each day was spent in useful
work, the students learning how to clear the land, how to cultivate the
soil, and how to build houses, using time that would otherwise have
been spent in playing games and seeking amusement. And the Lord
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blessed the students who thus devoted their time to acquiring habits of
usefulness.