Common Excuses Expressed in Word or Action
By L. Flora Plummer
Answers Compiled From the Writings of Mrs. E. G. White I think the Sabbath-school is for the children. “The Sabbath-school work is important, and all who are interested in the truth should endeavor to make it prosperous.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 127. “The Sabbath-school affords to parents and children a precious opportunity for the study of God’s Word. But in order to gain that benefit which they should gain in the Sabbath-school, both parents and children should devote time to the study of the lessons, seeking to obtain a thorough knowledge of the facts presented, and also of the spiritual truths which these facts are designed to teach.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885. “Parents should feel it a sacred duty to instruct their children in the statutes and requirements of God as well as in the prophecies. They should educate their children at home, and should themselves be interested in the Sabbath-school lessons. By studying with the children, they show that they attach importance to the truth brought out in the lessons, and help to create a taste for Bible knowledge.”—Review, Oct. 21, 1884. I have not time to study the Sabbath-school lesson. “Parents, set apart a little time each day for the study of the Sabbath-school lesson with your children. Give up the social visit if need be, rather than sacrifice the hour devoted to the precious lessons of sacred history. Parents as well as children will receive benefit from this study.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885. “There are many children who plead a lack of time as a reason why their Sabbath-school lessons are not learned; but there are few who could not find time to learn their lessons if they had an interest in them. Some devote time to amusement and sight-seeing; others, to the needless trimming of their dresses for display, thus cultivating pride and vanity. The precious hours thus prodigally spent are God’s time, for which they must render an account to him. The hours spent in needless ornamentation, or in amusements and idle conversation, will, with every work, be brought into judgment.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, pages 188, 189. “Young and old neglect the Bible. . . . Especially are the young guilty of this neglect. Most of them are ready, and find plenty of time, to read almost any other book. But the Word that points to life, eternal life, is not perused and daily studied.”—Id., Vol. I, p. 135. I attend the church services regularly. I do not regard the Sabbath-school as very important. “God would have those who profess to be his followers thoroughly furnished with proof of the doctrines of his Word. When and where can this be better obtained than in youth at the Sabbath-school? Parents should in no case treat this matter indifferently.”—Review, Nov. 28, 1878. “The Bible lessons which are taught in our schools are of far greater consequence than many now discern. These children will have to meet in the near future the heresies and fables that abound in the Christian world. Instruct the youth with simplicity but great thoroughness. Our work must stand the test of the judgment.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1886. We plan to study our lessons; but extra work, sewing, and visitors interfere so that we do not. “Observe system in the study of the Scriptures in your families. Neglect anything of a temporal nature; dispense with all unnecessary sewing and with needless provision for the table, but be sure that the soul is fed with the bread of life. It is impossible to estimate the good results of one hour or even half an hour each day devoted in a cheerful, social manner to the Word of God. . . . Do not break up your home class for callers or visitors. If they come in during the exercise, invite them to take part in it. Let it be seen that you consider it more important to obtain a knowledge of God’s Word than to secure the gains or pleasures of the world.” “If the time that is worse than wasted in gossip, in ministering to pride, or for the gratification of appetite, were devoted with equal interest to the study of the Bible, what encouragement would be given to our Sabbath-schools! But when parents are more anxious to have their children fashionably dressed than to have their minds stored with the truths of God’s Word, the children themselves will soon learn to regard dress and display as of more consequence than the things which concern their salvation.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885. My children must have their day-school lessons, and we have little time left for other study. “Even greater care should be taken by the parents to see that their children have their Scripture lessons, than is taken to see that their day-school lessons are prepared. Their Scripture lessons should be learned more perfectly than their lessons in the common schools. If parents and children see no necessity for this interest, then the children might better remain at home; for the Sabbath-school will fail to prove a blessing to them.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. II, pages 188, 189. “There is no reason why Sabbath-school lessons should be less perfectly learned by teachers or pupils than are the lessons of the day-school. They should be better learned, as they treat of subjects infinitely more important. A neglect here is displeasing to God.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885. My memory is so poor I can not learn my lesson. “Let the more important passages of Scripture connected with the lesson be committed to memory, not as a task, but as a privilege. Though at first the memory may be defective, it will gain strength by exercise, so that after a time you will delight thus to treasure up the precious words of truth. And the habit will prove a most valuable aid to religious growth.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885.22 “While your hands are engaged in labor, if you desire to become intelligent in spiritual things, if you desire to have your mind directed heavenward, you might commit to memory texts or portions of the Scriptures, and thus train your mind to dwell upon things that are pure and lovely. . . . The students in our schools should aspire to higher knowledge. Nothing will so help to give them a retentive memory as a study of the Scriptures.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VIII, page 156. I do not need to study the lesson, for in the class I can read the lesson from the Quarterly. “In some schools, I am sorry to say, the custom prevails of reading the lesson from the lesson sheet. This should not be. It need not be, if the time that is often needlessly and even sinfully employed, were given to the study of the Scriptures.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1885. “Make the Word of the living God your lesson book.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 166. “Throughout the world there should be a reform in Bible study; for it is needed now as never before. As this reform progresses, a mighty work will be wrought.”—Id., page 131. The Sabbath-school lessons seem like an old story to me. “In the Scriptures thousands of gems of truth lie hidden from the surface-seeker. The mine of truth is never exhausted. . . . Every day you should learn something new from the Scriptures.”—Id., Vol. V, page 266. “The Christian is required to be diligent in searching the Scriptures, to read over and over again the truths of God’s Word.”—Id., page 273. “If the Word of God were faithfully studied by all who profess to believe the truth, they would not be dwarfs in spiritual things.”—Id., Vol. IV, page 312. I need my children’s help with the work all the time outside of day-school hours. “The home should be made a school of instruction, rather than a place of monotonous drudgery. The evenings should be cherished as precious seasons, to be devoted to the instruction of the children in the way of righteousness. But how many children are sadly neglected! They are not educated in the home, that they may comprehend the truth of God, and are not trained to love justice and to do judgment.”—Sabbath School Worker, August, 1896. “Whatever else is taught in the home or at school, the Bible, as the great educator, should stand first. If it is given this place, God is honored, and he will work for you in the conversion of your children. There is a rich mine of truth and beauty in this holy book, and parents have themselves to blame if they do not make it intensely interesting to their children.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 322. I expect the Sabbath-school teacher to do the work of teaching my children the Bible. “While it is essential that wise, patient efforts should be made by the teacher, the work must not be left altogether to the Sabbath-school and church worker, but it must find its foundation and support in the work of the home. Parents have a sacred responsibility and charge committed to them, and they are called upon to keep their charge, to bear their responsibility in the fear of God, watching for the souls of their children as they who must give an account. . . . The responsibility which God has given to men and women as parents, many have shifted from themselves to the Sabbath-school worker and to the church influence. But each instrumentality has its work, and parents who neglect their part will be weighed in the balances and found wanting.”—Sabbath School Worker, April, 1889. “Let parents do their part, not only helping the children in their studies, but becoming familiar with the lessons themselves. The Bible is our text-book. Parents, teachers, and scholars need to become better acquainted with the precious truths contained in both the Old and the New Testament.”—Sabbath School Worker, July, 1885.