Our Privilege by GEO. W. STILSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 12, 1909

Our Privilege

By GEO. W. STILSON

GEO. W. STILSON

“BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Sons of God! Think what this means. Are you a son of God? Do you appreciate the privilege? What are the privileges of a son? Does this text really mean much to you? How often, when everything goes smoothly, we almost forget our Father! How often, when in trouble, we feel and act as if we were left to ourselves!

Notice the little boy, the son of a kind father. When he is well and happy,

and everything seems bright and pleasant, does he forget his father?— O, no! He loves to tell him all his joys and pleasures. He lives over with him all the little experiences which mean so much to him. And when trouble comes, does he remain away from his father, bearing his burdens alone, perhaps crushed and helpless beneath troubles too great for him?— Ah, no! His very first impulse is to run to his father, and tell him all his difficulties, his disappointments, his sorrows. And happy is the child whose father is truly such in the fullest sense,—the child who always finds in his father the comfort, help, or instruction that he, in his childish inexperience, needs to help him over the rough places of life.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” We are children of a loving Father. But how often we forget our privilege as children! How often, when life runs smoothly, and there is nothing to seriously disturb our tranquillity, we forget our dependence upon our Father, and become self-sufficient! And then, when troubles, disappointments, and sorrows come, not being accustomed to talking with our Father about our daily experiences, how prone we are to carry our load alone, hardly knowing how to get rid of it, even though it be heavier than we are able to bear.

Fathers, mothers, how would you feel if your boy should thus forget his sonship? Would it not grieve your hearts, and move you to pity to see him perplexed and unhappy with the burdens you would gladly carry for him? “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” How must our Father feel when we insist on carrying the burdens which he wishes to carry for us? “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.”

Brother, sister, does this seem too much for you to grasp? If so, think for a moment how you would feel if your child could not appreciate your love for him, and would refuse to accept what you do for him; then remember that your Father’s love is much greater than your own. Let us not continue to grieve the wonderful love that has made us sons of God. Let us appreciate and accept the wonderful gift, and in it find relief from the burdens which come to us in this world of sin. Thus may we become acquainted with our Father, and so be able to meet him with joy at his coming.

Sioux Falls, S. D.