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In the garb of a common laborer, He walked the streets of the little town, going to and returning from His humble work.

With the people of that age, the value of things was estimated by outward show. As religion had declined in power, it had increased in pomp. The educators of the time

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"He walked the streets of the little town, going to and returning from His work."

sought to command respect by display and ostentation. To all this the life of Jesus presented a marked contrast. His life demonstrated the worthlessness of those things that men regarded as life's great essentials. The schools of His time, with their magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great, He did not seek. His education was gained from Heavenappointed sources, from useful work, from the study of the Scriptures, from nature, and from the experiences of life, God's lesson books, full of instruction to all who bring to them the willing hand, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart.

"The Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him."5 Thus prepared, He went forth to His mission, in every moment of His contact with men exerting upon them an influence to bless, a power to transform, such as the world had never witnessed.

The Home Teaching

The home is the child's first school, and it is here that the foundation should be laid for a life of service. Its principles are to be taught not merely in theory. They are to shape the whole life training.

Very early the lesson of helpfulness should be taught the child. As soon as strength and reasoning power are sufficiently developed, he should be given duties to perform in the home. He should be encouraged in trying to help father and mother, encouraged to deny and to control himself, to put others' happiness and convenience before his own, to watch for opportunities to cheer and assist brothers and sisters and playmates, and to show kindness to the aged, the sick, and the unfortunate. The more fully the spirit of true ministry pervades the home, the more fully it will be developed in the lives of the children. They will learn to find joy in service and sacrifice for the good of others.

The Work of the School

The home training should be supplemented by the work of the school. The development of the whole being, physical, mental and spiritual, and the teaching of service and sacrifice, should be kept constantly in view.

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"He should be encouraged in trying to help father and mother."

Above any other agency, service for Christ's sake in the little things of every-day experience has power to mold the character and to direct the life into lines of unselfish ministry. To awaken this spirit, to encourage, and rightly to direct it, is the parent's and the teacher's work. No more important work could be committed to them. The spirit of ministry is the spirit of heaven, and with every effort to develop and encourage it angels will co-operate.

Such an education must be based upon the word of God. Here only are its principles given in their fulness. The Bible should be made the foundation of study and of teach

ing. The essential knowledge is a knowledge of God and of Him whom He has sent.

Every child and every youth should have a knowledge of himself. He should understand the physical habitation that God has given him, and the laws by which it is kept in health. All should be thoroughly grounded in the common branches of education. And they should have industrial training that will make them men and women of practical ability, fitted for the duties of every-day life. To this should be added training and practical experience in various lines of missionary effort.

Learning by Imparting

Let the youth advance as fast and as far as they can in the acquisition of knowledge. Let their field of study be as broad as their powers can compass. And as they learn, let them impart their knowledge. It is thus that their minds will acquire discipline and power. It is the use they make of knowledge that determines the value of their education. To spend a long time in study, with no effort to impart what is gained, often proves a hindrance rather than a help to real development. In both the home and the school it should be the student's effort to learn how to study and how to impart the knowledge gained. Whatever his calling, he is to be both a learner and a teacher as long as life shall last. Thus he may advance continually, making God his trust, clinging to Him who is infinite in wisdom, who can reveal the secrets hidden for ages, who can solve the most difficult problems for minds that believe in Him.

Influence of Association

God's word places great stress upon the influence of association, even upon men and women. How much greater is its power on the developing mind and character of children and youth. The company they keep, the principles they

adopt, the habits they form, will decide the question of their usefulness here, and of their future, eternal interest.

It is a terrible fact, and one that should make the hearts of parents tremble, that in so many schools and colleges to which the youth are sent for mental culture and discipline, influences prevail which misshape the character, divert the mind from life's true aims, and debase the morals. Through contact with the irreligious, the pleasure-loving, and the corrupt, many, many youth lose the simplicity and purity, the faith in God, and the spirit of self-sacrifice that Christian fathers and mothers have cherished and guarded by careful instruction and earnest prayer.

Many who enter school with the purpose of fitting themselves for some line of unselfish ministry, become absorbed in secular studies. An ambition is aroused to win distinction in scholarship and to gain position and honor in the world. The purpose for which they entered school is lost sight of, and the life is given up to selfish and worldly pursuits. And often habits are formed that ruin the life both for this world and for the world to come.

As a rule, men and women who have broad ideas, unselfish purposes, noble aspirations, are those in whom these. characteristics were developed by their associations in early years. In all His dealings with Israel, God urged upon them the importance of guarding the associations of their children. All the arrangements of civil, religious, and social life were made with a view to preserving the children from harmful companionship, and making them, from their earliest years, familiar with the precepts and principles of the law of God. The object-lesson given at the birth of the nation was of a nature deeply to impress all hearts. Before the last terrible judgment came upon the Egyptians in the death of the first-born, God commanded His people to gather their children into their own homes. The door-post of every house was marked with blood, and within the protection assured

by this token all were to abide. So to-day parents who love and fear God are to keep their children under "the bond of the covenant," within the protection of those sacred influences made possible through Christ's redeeming blood.

"Be Ye Separate"

Of His disciples, Christ said, "I have given them Thy word, and . . . they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." "

"Be not conformed to this world," God bids us; "but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."7

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? . . . and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore

"Come out from among them, and be ye separate,

And touch not the unclean;

And I will receive you,

And will be a Father unto you,

And ye shall be My sons and daughters,

Saith the Lord Almighty." 8

Promises of Blessing

"Gather the children."9 of God, and His laws." 10

"Make them know the statutes

"Put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them." 11

"And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the Name of Jehovah." 12

"The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people

As a dew from the Lord;

As the showers upon the grass,

That tarrieth not for man,

Nor waiteth for the sons of men." 13

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