International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 1, 1886
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
Importance of Home Training.
IN the words, "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace," the psalmist sums up the results of careful home training. It should be the object of every parent to secure to his children a well-balanced, symmetrical character. And this is a work of no small magnitude and importance, but one that will require earnest thought and prayer, no less than patient, persevering effort. A right foundation must be laid, a framework, strong and firm, erected, and then day by day the work of building, polishing, perfecting, must go forward.
Parents, your own home is the first field in which you are called to labor. The precious plants in the home garden demand your first care. To you it is appointed to watch for souls as they that must give account. Carefully consider your work, its nature, its bearing, and its results. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, you must instruct, warn, and counsel, ever remembering that your looks, words, and actions have a direct bearing upon the future course of your dear ones. Your work is not to paint a form of beauty upon canvas, or to chisel it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image of the Divine.
Did mothers but realize the importance of their mission, they would be much in secret prayer, presenting their children to Jesus, imploring his blessing upon them, and pleading for wisdom to discharge aright their sacred duties. Let the mother improve every opportunity to mould and fashion the disposition and habits of her children. Let her watch carefully the development of character, repressing traits that are too prominent, encouraging those that are deficient.
Mothers, will you not dispense with useless, unimportant labor for that which must perish with the using? Will you not seek to draw near to God, that his wisdom may guide and his grace assist you, in a work which will be as enduring as eternity? Aim to make your children perfect in character. Remember that such only can see God.
I speak the more freely and earnestly, because I know that many parents are neglecting their God-given work. They are themselves far from purity and holiness, and they do not see the defects of their children as they would if their own eyes were beholding and admiring the perfection of Christ's character.
Parents, for Christ's sake, for the sake of your children, seek to conform your own lives to the divine standard. Set a pure and noble example before your precious charge. Let nothing come in between you and your God. Be earnest, be patient and persevering, instant in season, and out of season. Give your children intellectual culture, and moral training. Let their young hearts be fortified with firm, pure principles. Teach them to exert every faculty of mind and body. While you have the opportunity, lay the foundation for a noble manhood and womanhood, and your labor will be rewarded a thousand fold.
You must make the Bible your guide, if you would bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Let the life and character of Christ be presented as the pattern for them to copy. If they err, read to them what the Lord has said concerning similar sins. There is need of constant care and diligence in this work. One wrong trait tolerated by parents, uncorrected by teachers, may cause the character to become deformed and unbalanced. Teach the children that they must have a new heart; that new tastes must be created, new motives inspired. They must have help from Christ; they must become acquainted with the character of God as revealed in his word.
Family prayer receives too little attention. In many cases, the morning and evening worship is little more than a mere form, a dull, monotonous repetition of set phrases in which the spirit of gratitude or the sense of need finds no expression. The Lord accepts not such service. But the petitions of a humble heart and contrite spirit he will not despise. The opening of our hearts to our Heavenly Father, the acknowledgment of our entire dependence, the expression of our wants, the homage of grateful love,—this is true prayer. When we come pleading the merits of Christ's blood, and trusting with implicit faith his promises, we shall secure the blessing of the Lord.
Redeem the precious hours worse than wasted in talking of your troubles, or gossiping over the faults of others. Seek earnestly to God for help, and you will become strong in his strength. You may have Christ as a guest in your home. Be not satisfied merely to bear the name of Christ. Be in truth followers of Jesus. Let your hearts be warmed with his love. Make him your friend, your helper, your counselor.
The most valuable rules for social and family intercourse, are to be found in the Bible. There is not only the best and purest standard of morality, but the most valuable code of politeness. Our Saviour's sermon on the mount contains instruction of priceless worth to old and young. It should be often read in the family circle, and its precious teachings exemplified in the daily life. The golden rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," as well as the apostolic injunction, "In honor preferring one another," should be made the law of the family. Those who cherish the spirit of Christ will manifest politeness at home, a spirit of benevolence even in little things. They will be constantly seeking to make all around them happy, forgetting self in their kind attentions to others. This is the fruit which grows upon the Christian tree.
Few realize the influence of the little things of life upon the development of character. Mothers, cease to spend your time and strength for that which is merely attractive to the eye, but which does not minister to comfort or real happiness, and you will cut off a large share of the cares and worries that make you nervous and irritable, impolite and unchristian. The precious moments heretofore given to needless labor should be devoted to beautifying the souls of your children, teaching them how they may obtain the inward adorning, that meek and quiet spirit which God accounts of great price.
If real politeness were practiced by all the followers of Christ, if obedience to the golden rule were made one of the corner-stones of Christian character, we would see fewer church-trials, less hardness and animosity between brethren. There would be no harsh, thoughtless words, no strife for the highest place. God's people will be tested. Every one will be exposed to the fierce fire of trial and temptation. If we would not be consumed as dross, we must have the love of God—the gold that has been tried—abiding in us. Now is the time to soften and subdue our rough, harsh traits of character. We must cherish kindness, forbearance, Christian integrity. Ungenerous criticism, hard speeches, questioning the motives of another, or magnifying his faults, open the door to Satan's temptations, and lead many away from God. The holy Scriptures give us a safe and profitable rule for thought and conversation. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." If we would have our children practice kindness, courtesy, and love, we ourselves must set them the example.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind." It "thinketh no evil,"—another fruit borne on the tree of love. Our souls must be stayed upon God, imbued with his Spirit, if we would learn these sacred lessons. Said the apostle, "Gird up the loins of your mind." If the thoughts are rightly disciplined, it will be a far less difficult task to control the feelings. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, will give us courage, hope, and constancy. Shall we not obey the teachings of God's word? Shall we not make it our guide and counselor? Shall we not devote time and thought to its perusal? How can Christians neglect the book in which God has revealed his will to men? Our children need help to understand the Scriptures. They should become acquainted with the life and character of Jesus, that they may love him, and choose to obey him.386
Parents and guardians must exercise unceasing watchfulness. Every day new thoughts are awakened in the minds of the young; new impressions are made upon their hearts. The associations they form, the books they read, the habits they cherish,—all must be guarded; for the interests of the children, for this life and the next, are at stake.
“What now you do, you know not,
But shall hereafter know,
When the seeds your hands are sowing,
To a ripened harvest grow.”
When you stand before the great white throne, then your work will appear as it is. The books are opened, the record of every life made known. Many in that vast company are unprepared for the revelations made. Upon the ears of some, the words will fall with startling distinctness, “Weighed in the balance, and found wanting.” To many parents the Judge will say in that day, “You had my word, plainly setting forth your duty. Why have you not obeyed its teachings? Knew ye not that it was the voice of God? Did I not bid you search the Scriptures, that you might not go astray? You have not only ruined your own souls, but by your pretensions to godliness you have misled many others. You have no part with me. Depart, depart!”
Another class stand pale and trembling, trusting in Christ, and yet oppressed with a sense of their own unworthiness. They hear with tears of joy and gratitude the Master’s commendation. The days of incessant toil, of burden-bearing, and of fear and anguish, are forgotten, as that voice, sweeter than the music of angel harps, pronounces the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” There stand the host of the redeemed, the palm branch of victory in their hand, the crown upon their head. These are the ones who by faithful, earnest labor, have obtained a fitness for Heaven. The life-work performed on earth is acknowledged in the heavenly courts as a work well done.
With joy unutterable, parents see the crown, the robe, the harp, given to their children. The days of hope and fear are ended. The seed sown with tears and prayers may have seemed to be sown in vain, but their harvest is reaped with joy at last. Their children have been redeemed. Fathers, mothers, shall the voices of your children swell the song of gladness in that day?
PATIENT FAITH.
By Thomas Hill
O, God! thy wisdom cannot err;
Thy tender mercy never fails;
Although thou mayst the help defer,
Till hands and feet are pierced with nails.
Thy Best-beloved bore the cross;
He died that awful death for me;
Help me for him to suffer loss,
Like him to bear my agony!
Teach me to look in faith to him;
His wounded feet, and hands, and side,
Have made all earthly honors dim;
While pain and grief are glorified.
Give me, O, Father! strength to bear
All burdens gladly for his sake;
With him in grief below to share
And in his joys above partake.
—Thomas Hill, D.D., in Independent.
Prophetic Study.
By J. D. Herr, D. D.
THE history of the world, as chronicled by eminent men of all ages, is replete with interest. The development, reign, and ultimate overthrow of vast empires, the rise of mighty warriors and able statesmen, the transmission of power from one nationality to another, the hereditary determination to conquer and annex territory manifested by all nations, together with the solemn yet awful trend toward an overwhelming and evadeless crisis, are to the careful student, who puts his hand on the feverish pulse of the world, profoundly interesting. History is the dial-plate upon which the finger of God indicates the epochs of prophecy. The revolutions and upheavals in civil and national life, together with the moral cyclones which occasionally sweep over the populations of earth, can only be correctly understood as we behold them through the telescope of prophecy. It is God alone who “changeeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding; he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.” The march of the centuries is ever toward a legitimate and clearly-defined end. Each revolution of the wheels of time assists in advancing the world in the direction of its prophetic destiny. Constant changes in the map of Europe, together with the numerous army of earthly events daily chronicled, are keeping step in the direction of God’s eternal purpose. The Christian who fails to read history in the light of prophecy will find no other lamp to illumine the deep and profound mysteries surrounding the pathway of this planet.
It is impossible to close our eyes to the fact that dreamers and inconsistent theorists, together with uncounted speculative teachers, have prophesied concerning the events lying in the future pathway of this globe and its inhabitants. Scientists have also attempted to demonstrate the peculiar methods which shall eventually obtain in the destruction of the present world, together with other heavenly bodies beyond us; yet no theory has ever been promulgated receiving a hearty and unhesitating approval from intelligent thinkers, and we are forced to the conclusion that all such speculative theories of the future of this earth, drawn from other sources than the word of God, are mere conjectures, and cannot be relied upon with any degree of certainty. In the Bible alone do we find the sure word of prophecy, “whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts.”—J. D. Herr, D. D.
The Change of the Sabbath.
By C. P. Bollman
THAT the Sabbath has been changed, at least so far as it is possible for men to change what God has established, all are agreed; but when we come to the reason and manner of the change there is not the same unanimity of sentiment. Many Protestants hold that the Sabbath was given only to the Jews, and was never binding upon any but the Jews; and that now there is, properly speaking, no Sabbath. Of course this view involves the abrogation of the decalogue and contradicts the Saviour, who said: “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
Others, however, claim that the decalogue is still in full force, but they aver that Christ and his apostles changed the Sabbath; and that whereas the fourth commandment did formerly enjoin the sacred observance of the seventh day, that it now performs the same office for the first day! It was no doubt the utter absurdity of this view which drove the antinomians into the still worse error (if indeed all errors are not equally bad) of holding that the moral law is abolished. But then assaults upon the law of God are sufficiently accounted for by Paul in Romans 8:7, and until men come under the new covenant and have the law of God written in their hearts (Jer. 31:31-34), we must expect to see the carnality of which the apostle speaks cropping out in various ways.
But there is another position (the most absurd of all) taken by a few who claim that the first day of the week, as we now have it, is the true seventh day, and that the day anciently observed is really the sixth day of the true week. Of course every fact of history, both sacred and profane, as well as every principle of logic and common sense, is against this view, but that makes no difference to those whose minds are so peculiarly constructed as to be able to entertain such an absurdity. In fact, one who can believe that theory is capable, with a very little effort, of believing almost anything except the truths of God’s word.
But still others believe that the change from the seventh to the first day of the week was made this side of Christ and the apostles, but in harmony with the will of God! This position is thus set forth by one of its adherents: “The selection of Sunday, thus changing the particular day designated in the fourth commandment, was brought about by the gradual concurrence of the early Christian church; and on this basis, and on none other, does the Christian Sabbath, the first day of the week, rightly rest.”—Christian at Work, Jan. 8, 1885.
In order that none may misunderstand what is meant by “the early Christian church,” we supplement this quotation with another from the same paper under date of Feb. 18, 1886, as follows: “We hear less than we used to about the apostolic origin of the present Sunday observance, and for the reason that while the Sabbath and Sabbath rest are woven into the warp and woof of Scripture, it is now seen, as it is admitted, that we must go to later than apostolic times for the establishment of Sunday observance.”
This latter quotation shows clearly that the editors of the Christian at Work do not think that the apostles, nor the church in the days of the apostles, had anything whatever to do with the change; and in this they are manifestly correct, as can be demonstrated by the most reliable historians. We have room in this connection for only a single extract, and until that is controverted (and it never can be), it will not be necessary to cite any other proof. Neander, of whom “McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia” says that he is “universally conceded to be by far the greatest of ecclesiastical historians,” gives this pointed and candid testimony:—
“The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.”—Rose’s Neander, page 186.
This is a plain statement of an undeniable fact; but as truth on this point is not in much demand, an effort has been made to suppress Neander’s testimony, and so it appears only in the first edition of his history.
Let no one think that such a historian as Neander, and such a paper as the Christian at Work would make such statements if the facts of history did not compel them to do so. The truth is that the claim made by some that the apostles observed the first day of the week, is so utterly groundless that men of learning do not care to hazard their reputation on statements which even a tyro in history can readily disprove; and so all, except those polemic divines who care more for their particular creeds than they do for the truth, refuse to longer peddle the pious frauds by which Sunday sanctity has so long been sustained.
But the fact remains that the change has been made; and if Christ and the apostles did not make it, how was it accomplished? If there is no divine authority for the change what authority is there for it? And if it is not introduced in the days of the apostolic church, when was it brought in? Surely these are proper questions,—questions which history will answer.
Yes, history does answer them; and that just as definitely as it answers similar inquiries in regard to other papal festivals and customs, such as Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, prayers for the dead, the worship of saints and images, the adoration of pictures, etc., etc. In reference to the introduction of some of these things, Dowling, in his “History of Romanism,” says:—
“There is scarcely anything which strikes the mind of the careful student of ancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise than the comparatively early period at which many of the corruptions of Christianity, which are embodied in the Romish system, took their rise; yet it is not to be supposed that when the first originators of many of these unscriptural notions and practices planted those germs of corruption,387they anticipated or even imagined they would ever grow into such a vast and hideous system of superstition and error, as is that of popery. . . . Each of the great corruptions of the latter ages took its rise in a manner which it would be harsh to say was deserving of strong reprehension. . . . The worship of images, the invocation of saints, and the superstition of relics, were but expansions of the natural feelings of veneration and affection cherished toward the memory of those who had suffered and died for the truth.”—Book 2, chap. 1, sec. 1.
The same might be said of the observance of Sunday, that it was but natural that those who had before regarded it as a day holy to the sun, should, upon becoming Christians, retain some of that reverence; nor is it strange that they should seek to connect the observance of the first day with their new religion, especially as the fact of the resurrection of Christ on that day afforded them an excellent pretext for so doing. And that is just what they did; and it is a significant fact that the practice of keeping Sunday as a Christian festival originated among Gentile Christians—those who had as pagans worshiped the sun upon that day. Recognizing this fact, the North British Review, Vol. 13, p. 409, thus defends the charge:—
“That very day was the Sunday of their heathen neighbors and respective countrymen; and patriotism gladly united with expediency in making it at once their Lord's day and their Sabbath. . . . If the authority of the church is to be ignored altogether by Protestants, there is no matter; because opportunity and common expediency are surely argument enough for so ceremonial a change as the mere day of the week for the observance of the rest and holy convocation of the Jewish Sabbath. That primitive church, in fact, was shut up to the adoption of the Sunday, until it became established and supreme, when it was too late to make another alteration; and it was no irreverent nor undelightful thing to adopt it, inasmuch as the first day of the week was their own high day at any rate; so that their compliance and civility were rewarded by the redoubled sanctity of their quiet festival.”
But what especially marks the Sunday sabbath as the work of the Roman Church is the fact that it was a Roman Catholic Council that first decreed that it should be kept instead of the ancient Sabbath. Upon this point Rev. Mr. James, in addressing the University of Oxford, says:—
“When the practice of keeping Saturday Sabbaths, which had become so general at the close of this [the third] century, was evidently gaining ground in the Eastern church, a decree was passed in the council held at Laodicea [A. D. 364] ‘that members of the church should not rest from work on the Sabbath like Jews, but should labor on that day, and preferring in honor the Lord's day, then if it be in their power should rest from work as Christians.’”
William Prynne, famous in the history of English Puritanism, also says: “It is certain that Christ himself, his apostles, and the primitive Christians, for some good space of time, did constantly observe the seventh-day Sabbath, . . . the evangelists and St. Luke in the Acts ever styling it the Sabbath day, . . . and making mention of its . . . solemnization by the apostles and other Christians, . . . It being still solemnized by many Christians after the apostles' times, even till the Council of Laodicea [A. D. 364], as ecclesiastical writers and the twenty-ninth canon of that council testify, which runs thus: ‘Because Christians ought not to Judaize, and to rest in the Sabbath, but to work in that day [which many did refuse at that time to do]. But preferring in honor the Lord's day [there being then a great controversy among Christians which of these two days . . . should have precedence]; if they desired to rest they should do this as Christians. Wherefore if they shall be found to Judaize, let them be accursed from Christ.’ . . . The seventh-day Sabbath was . . . solemnized by Christ, the apostles, and primitive Christians till the Laodicean Council did in a manner quite abolish the observation of it. . . . The Council of Laodicea . . . first settled the observation of the Lord's day, and prohibited . . . the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath under an anathema.”
Of the effects of the decree of this council, John Ley, another old English writer, speaks thus: “From the apostles' time until the Council of Laodicea, which was about the year 364, the holy observation of the Jews' Sabbath continued, as may be proved out of many authors; yea, notwithstanding the decree of that council against it.”
About the year 468 or 469 A. D., Pope Leo issued the following decree: “WE ORDAIN, according to the true meaning of the Holy Ghost, and of the apostles as thereby directed, that on the sacred day [Sunday] wherein our own integrity was restored, all do rest and cease from labor.”
C. P. BOLLMAN.
(To be continued.)
Rome and Heathenism.
A GREAT Roman Catholic festival is held every year at Bandhara, a place eight miles from Bombay, and full of old Portuguese churches. The festival is always held on Sunday, and is an abominable display of worldliness. A striking feature of it is that heathen who have been disappointed by their own gods are encouraged to renew their vows before the images displayed by the priests. The Bombay Guardian reports a curious instance of such homage at this year’s festival: “A Hindoo woman had made a vow to ‘Our Lady,’ that if she obtained what she asked for she would roll seven times around the church. So she lay down, full length, and was rolled over and over by two women. She was a stout woman, rain was falling, the ground was soft, the mud accumulated. Five times had the pradakshana of the temple or church been accomplished, when a priest came forward and announced to the poor creature that the ‘Blessed Virgin’ was satisfied, and would accept of the five tours as though they were seven.” In what respect can such a performance be considered an improvement on the penances of heathendom?—Religious Intelligencer.
"Casting all your care upon Him,
For he careth"—words how sweet!
How the Infinite and finite
In this sacred sentence meet!
How each word, alone, the spirit
Cheers and comforts; how the whole,
Like a loving benediction,
Soothes the sorrow of the soul!
Casting—like some long-borne burden,
From the shoulders thrown at last,
We the care, grown, oh! so heavy,
On our Lord may wholly cast.
Casting all—oh, gracious fullness,
Slight as well as gravest care;
None too small for him to notice,
None too great for him to bear.
Casting all your care, ah, tender,
Thoughtful "your;" then it must be
That his care for us is special,
Personal for you and me.
Casting all your care upon him;
Doubts and dreads and anxious fears,
All that weighs the heart with sadness,
All that dims the eyes with tears.
Casting all your care upon him,
For he careth, he doth heed;
Every want and woe foreseeth,
Will not fail us in our need.
Careth for us—oh, how precious
Is the care of earthly friend!
But the watch-care of a mother
Doth our Father's care transcend.
Careth for us—oh, then, brother,
Let us care so wondrous prove;
From our hearts, let us, believing,
All anxiety remove.
Cast it on the Lord and leave it,
Trust his word so sweet and blest,
And our hearts, before so burdened,
Shall in peace surpassing rest.
—Philip Burroughs Strong, in Watchman.
A Word to Young Christians.
By E. Judson
1. NEVER neglect daily private prayer; and when you pray remember that God is present, and that he hears your prayer. Heb. 11 : 6.
2. Never neglect daily private Bible reading, and when you read, remember that God is speaking to you, and that you are to believe and act upon what he says. I believe all backsliding begins with the neglect of these two rules. John 5 : 39.
3. Never profess to ask God for anything you do not want. Tell him the truth about yourself, however bad it makes you appear to be; and then ask him, for Christ's sake, to forgive you what you are and to make you what you ought to be. John 4 : 24.
4. Never let a day pass without trying to do something. Every night reflect on what Jesus has done for you, and then ask yourself, "What have I done to-day for him?" Matt. 5 : 13-16.
5. If ever you are in doubt as to a thing being right or wrong, go to your room, and kneel down and ask God's blessing upon it. Col. 3 : 17. If you cannot do this, it is wrong. Rom. 14 : 23.
6. Never take your Christianity from Christians, or argue that, because such and such people do so and so, therefore you may. 2 Cor. 10 : 12. You are to ask yourself, How would Christ act in my place? and strive to follow him. John 10 : 27.
7. Never believe what you feel, if it contradicts God's word. Ask yourself, "Can what I feel be true?" and if both cannot be true, believe God and make your own heart the liar. Rom. 3:4; 1 John 5 : 10, 11.—Rev. E. Judson.
Praying First.
DR. M. D. HOGE, of this city, says the Richmond Religious Herald, tells of two Christian men who "fell out." One heard that the other was talking against him, and he went to him and said, "Will you be kind enough to tell me my faults to my face, that I may profit by your Christian candor and try to get rid of them?" "Yes, sir," replied the other, "I will do it." They went aside, and the former said: "Before you commence telling what you think wrong in me, will you please bow down with me and let us pray over it, that my eyes may be opened to see my faults as you will tell them? You lead in the prayer." It was done, and when the prayer was over the man who had sought the interview said, "Now proceed with what you have to complain of in me." But the other replied, "After praying over it, it looks so little that it is not worth talking about. The truth is, I feel now that in going around talking against you, I have been serving the devil myself, and have need that you pray for me and forgive me the wrong I have done you."
Here and there in almost every community is a man or woman who might profit by this incident.—Sel.
Slow to Take Offense
By Western Christian Advocate
The wise man is not quick to take offense. It is better to be deaf and blind to an intended insult than to be swift to resentment.—Western Christian Advocate.
The World as a House Immense
"HE only truly lives, to whom the world is like a house immense, with no day passing by in which some new apartment is not visited."
Little Things.
By Hester Bates
"He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much."
YES, indeed! for life is made up of little things, like the little drops of water that make the mighty ocean, and he or she who is faithful in the little home duties and in the daily work, will be faithful in the bigger things of life; for it is easier to be self-sacrificing and brave on some particular occasion, when one's feelings or enthusiasm is stirred by the thought of doing something great, than it is daily to be patient and self-denying, cheerfully doing what only God's eye can see costs an effort. Yet how dear to the heart of the Master is this faithfulness in little things, which reveals the character.
We all long, at times, to do something great, but in the little things, where we think it doesn't matter much, and where is no outward compulsion, we are apt to be self-indulgent and please ourselves, forgetting that it is "the foxes—the little foxes—that spoil the vines," so that the fruit is lost.
God will teach us through our little duties to be obedient, humble, loving, and submissive to him; and to be faithful may be preparation for greater service, but it certainly now wins the Master's smile of approval, and finally, his welcome home, as he says: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Who can tell what is little and what is great? When the rich men were casting their gifts into the treasury, the Lord said of the widow's two mites: "Of a truth, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all."
It is the motive that gives dignity and worth to action, and the heart performance of life's little duties is of great value in the sight of the Lord.
Away then with the thought that your life is narrow, and in your small sphere you can do no great work. A very little thing may turn the389scale, and make or mar a life; for sometimes great events hinge on very small things.
The ready smile, cheery word, generous act, quick appreciation of another's trials, and a warm interest and sympathy in their sorrows and joys is of no little value. You thus develop for good your own character, honor God, and help others.
A young girl, beset with many temptations, said of one who led her closer to the Saviour: "Not what she said, but what she looked, showed me Jesus." A look is a very little thing, but it made a deep and lasting impression. "Even so the tongue is a little member," but, "behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth." The tongue may be "an unruly evil, full of deadly poison," wounding bitterly, or it "may speak a word in season to him that is weary," the word which "fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Therefore dream not of great things, but, in intercourse with others, through looks, words, and acts, do a great work and live a noble life.—Hester Bates, in Christian at Work.