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Study the Divine Guidebook in Worship, June 16
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
.
The Bible is a guide in the management of children. Here, if parents desire,
they may find a course marked out for the education and training of their children,
that they may make no blunders.... When this Guidebook is followed, parents,
instead of giving unlimited indulgence to their children, will use more often the
chastening rod; instead of being blind to their faults, their perverse tempers, and
alive only to their virtues, they will have clear discernment and will look upon
these things in the light of the Bible. They will know that they must command
their children in the right way.—
Child Guidance, 256
.
The Word of God abounds in general principles for the formation of correct
habits of living, and the testimonies, general and personal, have been calculated
to call their attention more especially to these principles.—
Testimonies for the
Church 4:323
.
In arousing and strengthening a love for Bible study, much depends on the use
of the hour of worship. The hours of morning and evening worship should be the
sweetest and most helpful of the day. Let it be understood that into these hours
no troubled, unkind thoughts are to intrude; that parents and children assemble to
meet with Jesus, and to invite into the home the presence of holy angels. Let the
services be brief and full of life, adapted to the occasion, and varied from time to
time.
Let all join in the Bible reading and learn and often repeat God’s law. It will
add to the interest of the children if they are sometimes permitted to select the
reading. Question them upon it, and let them ask questions. Mention anything
that will serve to illustrate its meaning. When the service is not thus made too
lengthy, let the little ones take part in prayer, and let them join in song, if it be but
a single verse....
Parents should take time daily for Bible study with their children. No doubt
it will require effort and planning and some sacrifice to accomplish this; but the
effort will be richly repaid. As a preparation for teaching His precepts, God
commands that they be hidden in the hearts of the parents. “These words, which I
command thee this day, shall be in thine heart,” He says: “and thou shalt teach
them diligently” (
Deuteronomy 6:6, 7
). In order to interest our children in the
Bible, we ourselves must be interested in it. To awaken in them a love for its
study, we must love it.... All that God’s Word commands, we are to obey. All that
it promises, we may claim.—
Education, 186-189
.
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