An Appeal to the Young.
By Mary J. Cottrell
DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS : I have just laid aside Testimony to the Church, No. 4, and while perusing its pages thoughts like the following have come to my mind: Do the young read this book as much as they ought ? I confess with sorrow that I have not. It has been read and then laid aside, and only occasionally been looked into. It has not been studied as a warning from God ought to be. Yes, young friends, God sees our waywardness, he knows our weakness, he marks each time we yield to self or Satan; and in love and pity he has condescended to send us warning. That warning is but little heeded. How soon are its words forgotten ! How soon do the fleeting things of earth take our attention ? How soon does trifling talk, &c., drown all recollection of that heavenly letter, the admonitory words of which should be stored away in our minds, written on our hearts and heeded ? O young friends, the day is fast approaching when we must render an account of how we have used our many privileges, how we have prized these heavenly warnings. Young brother, young sister, we cannot meditate too much upon these things. I believe that if Testimony No. 4 was oftener read, we should find quite a difference in the theme of conversation when young Sabbath-keepers meet together, from what it now is. We should not then hear the remark, "I was not satisfied with our visit, there was not enough said on the subject of religion;" but instead would be heard, "What a good visit we did have; I feel almost as though I had been at meeting." Yes, let us study Testimony No. 4. It is to the young its friendly voice speaks; and shall we disregard so holy an admonition ! Time is fleeting. Soon the last moments will come, and then he that is filthy must so remain. Now is the time for action. Work while the day lasts. Soon the night will come. The time of trouble is fast approaching, when we must be clothed with the white robe if we would stand. May these things sink with due weight into our hearts, that we may awake from this lethargy into which we have fallen, and in which Satan is trying to keep us, and be prepared for a home in that world of beauty, of which we hear so much. MARY J. COTTRELL.
Mill Grove, N. Y.