WHO SHOULD ATTEND SABBATH-SCHOOL.
By J. E. White
We are glad to know that the opinion is fast passing away that the Sabbath-school is only a place for children to come once a week to learn their letters and listen to Bible stories. This was a good step in the right direction; but Seventh-day Adventists have gone farther. Their children must be instructed in the theory of present truth, and the Sabbath-school is the place to do it. And with our admirable system of lessons, how well-regulated and easy the task becomes. The children should attend the Sabbath-school by all means. And as the young mind gathers precious grains of wisdom in his daily studies at school, let the parents see that this is fully balanced by a good understanding of the Holy Scriptures, and the principles of present truth therein taught. Character is made up of habits, and habits are formed by the little acts of every day life. Allow not the habits to be such as to lay the foundation for a character with God's Word and present truth left out of it; for it is hard to change character in after life. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The youth should attend Sabbath-school. As the mind is expanding into manhood and womanhood, how important it is that habits and thoughts should be kept in the right channel. John says: "I have written unto you young men because ye are strong." This is the age of strength and activity of mind and body. Lessons are readily learned and subjects grasped easily. Learn the lessons perfectly. You would be ashamed to miss a question in grammar or rhetoric. Don't be any less sensitive about your Sabbath-school lesson. Don't be tardy! Nothing injures the interest of a school so much as to have a number coming in after the hour for commencing school has arrived. Young men and women who cannot get up ambition enough to be punctual at Sabbath-school, may be too late to obtain an entrance into the Heavenly Jerusalem by-and-by. Let the parents and all in the prime of manhood and womanhood attend the Sabbath-school. You need the instruction there given every day of your lives. "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." We are different in our belief from the denominations around us. People want to know why this is. If we can give no reason for this, we make ourselves and the truth we believe subjects of ridicule. But above all, your influence is needed in the school. Children like to do as their parents do. If only the children of the family go, they draw the conclusion that the Sabbath-school is only for children, and when they arrive at a certain age they can remain away. This is not right. By precept and example the children should be taught that the Sabbath-school is a pleasant and desirable place for both old and young. All should go to Sabbath-school. All should take an interest in the lesson, and all should be punctual. It is a good plan for the officers of the Sabbath-school to consult the church roll as often as once a quarter, and appoint a committee to call on all who do not attend, and try to interest them in the school. Finally, if the parents are interested and attend the Sabbath-school there will be no trouble in keeping the children interested.