Seek God Early. --Children and youth should begin early to seek God; for
early habits and impressions will frequently exert a powerful influence upon the
life and character. Therefore the youth who would be like Samuel, John, and
especially like Christ, must be faithful in the things which are least, turning
away from the companions who plan evil and who think that their life in the
world is to be one of pleasure and selfish indulgence. Many of the little home
duties are overlooked as of no consequence; but if the small things are
neglected, the larger duties will be also. You want to be whole men and women,
with pure, sound, noble characters. Begin the work at home; take up the little
duties and do them with thoroughness and exactness. When the Lord sees you are
faithful in that which is least, He will entrust you with larger
responsibilities. Be careful how you build, and what kind of material you put
into the building. The characters you are now forming will be lasting as
eternity.
Let Jesus take possession of your mind, your heart, and your affections; and
work as Christ worked, doing conscientiously the home duties, little acts of
self-denial and deeds of kindness, employing the moments diligently, keeping a
careful watch against little sins and a grateful heart for little blessings, and
you will have at last such a testimony for yourself as was given of John and
Samuel, and especially of Christ: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man."
"Give Me Thine Heart." --The Lord says to the young, "My son,
give Me thine heart." The Saviour of the world loves to have children and youth give their hearts to Him. There
may be a large army of children who shall be found faithful to God, because they
walk in the light as Christ is in the light. They will love the Lord Jesus, and
it will be their delight to please Him. They will not be impatient if reproved,
but will make glad the heart of father and mother by their kindness, their
patience, their willingness to do all they can in helping to bear the burdens of
daily life. Through childhood and youth they will be found faithful disciples of
our Lord.
An Individual Choice to Be Made. --Watch and pray, and obtain a personal
experience in the things of God. Your parents may teach you, they may try to
guide your feet into safe paths; but it is impossible for them to change your
heart. You must give your heart to Jesus and walk in the precious light of truth
that He has given you. Faithfully take up your duties in the home life, and,
through the grace of God, you may grow up unto the full stature of what Christ
would have a child grow to be in Him. The fact that your parents keep the
Sabbath, and obey the truth, will not insure your salvation. For though Noah and
Job and Daniel were in the land, "As I live, saith the Lord God, they shall
deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by
their righteousness."
In childhood and youth you may have an experience in the service of God. Do
the things that you know to be right. Be obedient to your parents. Listen to
their counsels; for if they love and fear God, upon them will be laid the
responsibility of educating, disciplining, and training your soul for the
immortal life. Thankfully receive the help they want to give you, and make their
hearts glad by cheerfully submitting yourselves to the dictates of their wiser judgments.
In this way you will honour your parents, glorify God, and become a blessing to
those with whom you associate.
Fight the battle, children; remember every victory places you above the
enemy.
Children to Pray for Help. --Children should pray for grace to resist the
temptations which will come to them--temptations to have their own way and to do
their own selfish pleasure. As they ask Christ to help them in their life
service to be truthful, kind, obedient, and to bear their responsibilities in
the family circle, He will hear their simple prayer.
Jesus would have the children and the youth come to Him with the same
confidence with which they go to their parents. As a child asks his mother or
father for bread when he is hungry, so the Lord would have you ask Him for the
things which you need. . . .
Jesus knows the needs of children, and He loves to listen to their prayers.
Let the children shut out the world and everything that would attract the
thoughts from God; and let them feel that they are alone with God, that His eye
looks into the inmost heart and reads the desire of the soul, and that they may
talk with God. . . .
Then, children, ask God to do for you those things that you cannot do for
yourselves. Tell Jesus everything. Lay open before Him the secrets of your
heart; for His eye searches the inmost recesses of the soul, and He reads your
thoughts as an open book. When you have asked for the things that are necessary
for your soul's good, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.
Perform the Home Duties Cheerfully. --Children and youth should be
missionaries at home by doing those things that need to be done and that someone
must do. . . . You can prove by faithful performance of the little things that
seem to you unimportant that you have a true missionary spirit. It is the
willingness to do the duties that lie in your path, to relieve your overburdened
mother, that will prove you worthy of being entrusted with larger
responsibilities. You do not think that washing dishes is pleasant work, yet you
would not like to be denied the privilege of eating food that has been placed on
those dishes. Do you think that it is more pleasant work for your mother to do
those things than it is for you? Are you willing to leave what you consider a
disagreeable task for your careworn mother to do, while you play the lady? There
is sweeping to be done, there are rugs to take up and shake, and the rooms are
to be put in order; and while you are neglecting to do these things, is it
consistent for you to desire larger responsibilities? Have you considered how
many times mother has to attend to all these household duties while you are
excused to attend school or amuse yourself?
Many children go about their home duties as though they were disagreeable
tasks, and their faces plainly show the disagreeable. They find fault and
murmur, and nothing is done willingly. This is not Christlike; it is the spirit
of Satan, and if you cherish it, you will be like him. You will be miserable
yourselves and will make all about you miserable. Do not complain of how much
you have to do and how little time you have for amusement, but be thoughtful and
care-taking. By employing your time in some useful work, you will be closing a
door against Satan's temptations. Remember that Jesus lived not to please
Himself, and you must be like Him. Make this matter one of religious principle, and ask Jesus to help you. By exercising
your mind in this direction, you will be preparing to become burden bearers in
the cause of God as you have been caretakers in the home circle. You will have a
good influence upon others and may win them to the service of Christ.
Give Mothers Change and Rest. --It is difficult for a loving mother to urge
her children to help her when she sees they have no heart in the work and will
frame any and every excuse to get rid of doing a disagreeable task Children and
youth, Christ is looking upon you, and shall He see you neglecting the trust He
has put into your hands? If you want to be useful, the opportunity is yours.
Your first duty is to help your mother who has done so much for you. Lift her
burdens, give her pleasant days of rest; for she has had few holidays and very
little variety in her life. You have claimed all the pleasure and amusement as
your right, but the time has come for you to shed sunshine in the home. Take up
your duty; go right to work. Through your self-denying devotion give her rest
and pleasure.
God's Reward for the Daniels of Today. --There is now need of men who, like
Daniel, will do and dare. A pure heart and a strong, fearless hand are wanted in
the world today. God designed that man should be constantly improving, daily
reaching a higher point in the scale of excellence. He will help us if we seek
to help ourselves. Our hope of happiness in two worlds depends upon our
improvement in one. . . .
Dear youth, God calls upon you to do a work which through His grace you can
do. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service." Stand forth in your God-given manhood and
womanhood. Show a purity of tastes, appetite, and habits that bears comparison
with Daniel's. God will reward you with calm nerves, a clear brain, an
unimpaired judgement, keen perceptions. The youth of today whose principles are
firm and unwavering will be blessed with health of body, mind, and soul.
Begin Now to Redeem the Past. --The youth are now deciding their own eternal
destiny, and I would appeal to you to consider the commandment to which God has
annexed such a promise, "That thy days may be long upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee." Children, do you desire eternal life? Then
respect and honour your parents. Do not wound and grieve their hearts and cause
them to spend sleepless nights in anxiety and distress over your case. If you
have sinned in not rendering love and obedience to them, begin now to redeem the
past. You cannot afford to take any other course; for it means to you the loss
of eternal life.