BE A GOOD MAN, PAPA by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 27, 1879

“BE A GOOD MAN, PAPA.”

By Editor

Leaving home this morning for the office, we kissed our little four-year-old good-by, saying to him, “Be a good boy to-day.” He somewhat surprised me by replying, “I will. Be a good man, papa.” Sure enough, we thought. We need the exhortation more than he, and who could give it more effectually than this guileless prattler? The words of the little preacher have been ringing in our ears all day, and whether we wrote letters or editorials, notified an irate correspondent whose effusions we could not publish, or pruned down a too lengthy report, we seemed to hear the sweet child-voice saying, “Be a good man, papa.” If the exhortation had been given by Paul or Peter, would it have had more force than coming from this little apostle of innocence? We think not, at least to our heart. Oh, how many little children, if not in words, yet by the helplessness of their lives and the trustfulness of their little hearts, are pleading, most eloquently, “Papa, be a good man!” May their tender admonition be blessed of God to the rescuing of many precious souls from the wreck and ruin of sinful lives!—The Christian.