Education a Fitting for Service

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The true object of education is to fit men and women for service by developing and bringing into active exercise all their faculties. The work at our colleges and training schools should be strengthened year by year, for in them our youth are to be prepared to go forth to serve the Lord as efficient laborers. The Lord calls upon the youth to enter our schools and quickly fit themselves for active work. Time is short. Workers for Christ are needed everywhere. Urgent inducements should be held out to those who ought now to be engaged in earnest effort for the Master.

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Our schools have been established by the Lord; and if they are conducted in harmony with His purpose, the youth sent to them will be quickly prepared to engage in various branches of missionary work. Some will be trained to enter the field as missionary nurses, some as canvassers, some as evangelists, and some as gospel ministers. Some are to be prepared to take charge of church schools, in which the children shall be taught the first principles of education. This is a very important work, demanding high ability and careful study. 494

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Satan is trying to lead men and women away from right principles. The enemy of all good, he desires to see human beings so trained that they will exert their influence on the side of error, instead of using their talents to bless their fellow men. And multitudes who profess to belong to God’s true church are falling under his deceptions. They are being led to turn away from their allegiance to the King of heaven.

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The signs which show that Christ’s coming is near are fast fulfilling. The Lord calls upon our youth to labor as canvassers and evangelists, to do house-to-house work in places where the truth has not yet been proclaimed. He speaks to our young men, saying, «Know ye not that . . . ye are not your own? for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.» I Corinthians 6:19, 20. Those who go forth into the work under the Master’s direction will be wonderfully blessed.

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The Lord calls for volunteers who will take their stand firmly on His side and will pledge themselves to unite with Jesus of Nazareth in doing the work that needs to be done now, just now. The talents of God’s people are to be employed in giving the last message of mercy to the world. The Lord calls upon those connected with our schools and sanitariums and publishing houses to teach the youth to do evangelistic work. Our time and money must not be so largely employed in establishing sanitariums, food factories, food stores, and restaurants that other lines of work shall be neglected. Young men and women who should be engaged in the ministry, in Bible work, and in the canvassing work should not be bound down to mechanical employment.

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It is to fortify the youth against the temptations of the enemy that we have established schools where they may be qualified for usefulness in this life and for the service of God throughout eternity. Those who have an eye single to God’s glory will earnestly desire to fit themselves for special service; for the love of Christ will have a controlling influence upon them. This love imparts more than finite energy, and qualifies human beings for divine achievement.

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Christ’s Labor for Humanity The work of those who love God will make manifest the character of their motives, for the saving of those for whom Christ has paid an infinite price will be the object of their efforts. All other considerations—home, family, enjoyment—will be made secondary to the work of God; they will follow the example of Him who showed His love for fallen man by leaving a heaven of bliss and the homage of the angels, to come to this world. The Saviour worked with unwearied effort to help human beings. He stopped at no sacrifice, hesitated at no self-denial; for our sakes He became poor, that through His poverty we might be made rich. His sympathy for the lost led Him to seek them wherever they were. And His colaborers must work as He worked, hesitating not to seek for the fallen, deeming no effort too taxing, no sacrifice too great, if they may but win souls to Christ. He who would be an efficient worker for God must be willing to endure what Christ endured, to meet men as He met them. 496

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That education alone which brings the student into close relation with the Great Teacher is true education. The youth are to be taught to look to Christ as their guide. They are to be taught lessons of forbearance and trust, of true goodness and kindness of heart, of perseverance and steadfastness. Their characters are to answer to the words of David: «That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace.» Psalm 144:12.

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The converted student has broken the chain which bound him to the service of sin, and has placed himself in right relation to God. His name is enrolled in the Lamb’s book of life. He is under solemn obligation to renounce evil and come under the jurisdiction of heaven. Through earnest prayer he is to cleave to Christ. To neglect this devotion, to refuse this service, is to become the sport of Satan’s wiles.

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While cultivating the mind the student should also cultivate uprightness of heart and loyalty to God, that he may develop a character like that of Joseph. Then he will scorn the thought of yielding to temptation, fearing to sully his purity. Like Daniel, he will resolve to be true to principle and to make the very best use of the powers with which God has endowed him.

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Long Courses of Study There are many who think that in order to be fitted for acceptable service they must go through a long course of study under learned teachers in some school of the world. This they must do, it is true, if they desire to secure what the world calls education. But we do not say to our youth, Study, study, keeping your mind all the time on books. Nor do we say to them, You must spend your time in school in acquiring the so-called «higher education.» The cause of God needs experienced workers. But we should not think that we must climb to the highest round of knowledge in every science. Time is short, and we must labor earnestly for souls. If students will study the word of God diligently and prayerfully, they will find the knowledge that they need.

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It is not necessary that all know several languages; but it is necessary that all have an experience in the things of God. I do not say that there should be no study of the languages. The languages should be studied. Before long there will be a positive necessity for many to leave their homes and go to work among people of other tongues; and those who have some knowledge of these languages will be able to communicate with those who do not know the truth.

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The Character of Teachers The well-being, the happiness, the religious life, of the families with which the youth are connected, the prosperity and piety of the church of which they are members, are largely dependent upon the religious education that they receive in our schools. Because our schools have been established for so high and holy a purpose, the teachers should be men and women whose lives are purified by the grace of Christ, who are cultured in mind and refined in manners. And they should have a vivid sense of the perils of this time, and the work that must be accomplished to prepare a people to stand in the day of God. They should ever pursue a course that will command the respect of their students. The youth have a right to expect that a Christian teacher will reach a high standard, and they will pass severe judgment upon him if he does not.

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The teachers in our schools will need to manifest Christlike love, forbearance, and wisdom. Students will come to school who have no definite purpose, no fixed principles, no realization of the claim that God has upon them. These are to be led to awake to their responsibilities. They must be taught to appreciate their opportunities, and to become examples of industry, sobriety, and helpfulness. Under the influence of wise teachers, the indolent may be led to arouse, the thoughtless to become serious. Through painstaking effort, the most unpromising student may be so trained and disciplined that he will go forth from the school with high motives and noble principles, prepared to be a successful light bearer in the darkness of the world.

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Patient, conscientious teachers are needed to arouse hope and aspiration in the youth, to help them to realize the possibilities lying before them. Teachers are needed who will train their students to do service for the Master; who will carry them forward from one point to another in intellectual and spiritual attainment. Teachers should strive to realize the greatness of their work. They need enlarged views; for their work, in its importance, ranks with that of the Christian minister. With persevering faith they are to hold to the Infinite One, saying as did Jacob, «I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.» Genesis 32:26.

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Offering to God Our Best Students are to offer to God nothing less than their best. Mental effort will become easier and more satisfactory as they set themselves to the task of understanding the deep things of God. Each should decide that he will not be a second-rate student, that he will not allow others to think for him. He should say, «That which other minds have acquired in the sciences and in the word of God, I will acquire through painstaking effort.» He should rally the best powers of the mind and, with a sense of his accountability to God, do his best to conquer difficulties. And as far as possible, he should seek the society of those who are able to help him, who can detect his mistakes, and put him on his guard against indolence, pretense, and surface work.

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The true motive of service is to be kept before students. The training they receive is to help them to develop into useful men and women. Every means that will uplift and ennoble them is to be employed. They are to be taught to use their powers in harmony with God’s will. The influence exerted by a true, pure life is ever to be kept before them. This will aid them in their preparation for service. Daily they will grow stronger, better prepared, through the grace of Christ and a study of His word, to put forth aggressive efforts against evil. —

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No other knowledge is so firm, so consistent, so far-reaching, as that obtained from the study of God’s word. Here is the fountain of all true knowledge.