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Special Testimonies On Education
is done to the glory of God. I cannot find an instance in the life of
Christ where he devoted time to play and amusement. He was the
great Educator for the present and the future life. I have not been
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able to find one instance where he educated his disciples to engage in
amusement of football or pugilistic games, to obtain physical exercise,
or in theatrical performances; and yet Christ was our pattern in all
things. Christ, the world’s Redeemer, gave to every man his work, and
bids them “occupy till I come.” And in doing his work, the heart warms
to such an enterprise, and all the powers of the soul are enlisted in a
work assigned of the Lord and Master. It is a high and important work.
The Christian teacher and student are enabled to become stewards of
the grace of Christ, and be always in earnest.
All they can do for Jesus is to be in earnest, having a burning
desire to show their gratitude to God in the most diligent discharge of
every obligation that is laid upon them, that, by their fidelity to God,
they may respond to the great and wonderful gift of the only begotten
Son of God, that through faith in him they should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
There is need of each one in every school and in every institution,
being as was Daniel, in such close connection with the Source of
all wisdom, that his prayers will enable him to reach the highest
standard of his duties in every line, that he may be able to fulfill his
scholastic requirements, not only under able teachers, but also under
the supervision of heavenly intelligences, knowing that the All-seeing,
the Ever-sleepless Eye was upon him. The love and fear of God was
before Daniel, and he educated and trained all his powers to respond
as far as possible to the loving care of the Great Teacher, conscious
of his amenability to God. The four Hebrew children would not allow
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selfish motives and love of amusements to occupy the golden moments
of this life. They worked with a willing heart and ready mind. This
is no higher standard than every Christian may attain. God requires
of every Christian scholar more than has been given him. Ye are “a
spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”
October, 1893.
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