Child - Saving by Mrs. Luella B. Priddy

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 28, 1907

Child - Saving

By Mrs. Luella B. Priddy

Kept in the Way

MRS. LUELLA B. PRIDDY

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6. To train up a child in the way he should go, can mean nothing less than to keep him in the way all the time until he reaches manhood. Thus early impressions become fixed as habits, a part of the very life.

The training of a vine illustrates this truth. The gardener does not simply consider the present needs of the plant, but he has in his mind a picture of what he expects the vine to be when it reaches maturity. He arranges his frames and trellises with that end in view.

As he watches the growth of the vine, he will notice branches and tendrils reaching out here and there, frequently in directions that are contrary to his plan. He gently bends the supple twigs in the direction he would have them grow, knowing that harsh handling will mar the beauty and usefulness of the plant.

Should he carelessly neglect the vine for a time, he would find some of the branches tangled and twisted and doubled back upon themselves, in a way quite contrary to his wishes. Efforts to improve it now will be attended by some risk. Some branches can not be straightened without breaking them off. The vine, though much improved by future watchfulness, can never be what it might have been, had it never been neglected.

Thus it is with a little child. If he is kept in the way, not being allowed to develop evil traits of character, it will mean a useful life all the way along. He will escape many struggles and difficulties.

To train up a child for the service of God on earth, and for the future immortal life, is the work of years. The burden can not be safely laid down until the child has not only been converted, but until a habit of right-doing has been so firmly established that he will not be easily lead into evil. Here is where many fail. They imagine that their children are old enough to look after themselves, and they allow them to choose their own associates and surroundings, when as yet their judgment is immature, and the knowledge of the results of their conduct is very limited. They thus become the sport of circumstances. “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Cor. 15:33.

We may learn a lesson on this point from the life of Moses. He was born under peculiarly trying circumstances, and his mother had the privilege of caring for him only about twelve years. But she had taught him so faithfully during those early years, that he never lost his love for God and truth, even though surrounded by all the splendors of an Egyptian court; and the prospects of a throne could not turn him from his loyalty to the despised people of God.

But there is a dark chapter in the life of Moses. He was taken from his pious surroundings at a tender age, and his education was not finished. He was placed in the worldly schools of Egypt, where he learned the art of war. He knew he was the chosen leader of Israel, but he had imbibed the erroneous idea that he was to deliver them by the power of the sword. Hence he slew the Egyptian. He was obliged to flee for his life, and spend forty long years in the humble occupation of a shepherd, unlearning the lessons of his youth.

There have been children who have gone out of pious homes into a wicked world, and have drifted away from the teachings of their childhood, and, in later years, have returned to the God of their fathers. But many under such circumstances never return.

In this day when time is so short, we can not afford to let our children be taught in worldly schools, there imbibing wrong views of life which will take long years of repentance to overcome. The end will come and they will not be ready. They should be kept “in the way.”

Markham, Ontario.