January-March
If you are reading this article, you learned your ABC’s.
Have you considered how the alphabet is used in one day? I was thinking of this today. For talking, receipting, sewing, recipes, taking phone messages, ordering products, designing labels, following road signs . . . eading my Bible and even prayer and singing I used my a,b,c’s. They were not the completion of my “education,” but the basic necessary steps upon which to build. So it is in God’s method of educating. He gives us spiritual a,b,c’s to enable us to perfect Christian character. Would you like to know what they are? This article is not long enough to cover all the aspects of this most important subject, but it is a preview of something not thought of as it should be.
First, I would like us to review a most important statement from the pen of inspiration. As you read it, remember that all of us fit into the category of those who want to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
“Now, as never before, we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God. ‘This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent’ (John 17:3). If this is the price of heaven, shall not our education be conducted on these lines?”—Christian Educator, Aug, 1897 (emphasis added).
Since we want to enter Heaven, and we want eternal life, and we want to know Jesus Christ, then we should also want the true science of education. Where does it begin in our life? At the basic a, b, and c.
“Study in agricultural lines should be the A, B, and C of the education given in our schools. This is the very first work that should be entered upon.”—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 179.
Until recently, I considered the importance of agricultural endeavours to be connected with educating youth and as a means of supporting ourselves while living in the country. Yes, I knew that it was important to grow our own food, and to be out amongst God’s beautiful creation, but I now realize there is much more to the importance of the subject.
Let us examine the thought of God from the beginning of the Biblical record. Where did He place the first of His creation? In Genesis we read that “the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8).
Why the garden? Wasn’t everything perfect? Didn’t that mean they didn’t need to work? No! God placed Adam and Eve in the best circumstances for their ultimate happiness and healthiness. As we consider God’s plan for our life, we should be seeking the same, that restoration in our own heart and life of God’s ideals.
Perfection didn’t and doesn’t mean “no work.” Instead it means a place and circumstances designed by our Creator Himself to develop His characteristics to their fullest in His creation. The plan hasn’t changed.
“The system of education instituted at the beginning of the world was to be a model for man throughout all aftertime. As an illustration of its principles a model school was established in Eden, the home of our first parents. The Garden of Eden was the schoolroom, nature was the lesson book, the Creator Himself was the instructor, and the parents of the human family were the students. . . .
“‘The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden’ (Genesis 2:8, 9). Here, amidst the beautiful scenes of nature untouched by sin, our first parents were to receive their education.”—Education, pp. 20, 21 (emphasis added).
Even after sin, we find that God’s plan for educating remained the same.
“The education centering in the family was that which prevailed in the days of the patriarchs. For the schools thus established, God provided the conditions most favorable for the development of character. The people who were under His direction still pursued the plan of life that He had appointed in the beginning. Those who departed from God built for themselves cities, and, congregating in them, gloried in the splendor, the luxury, and the vice that make the cities of today the world’s pride and its curse. But the men who held fast God’s principles of life dwelt among the fields and hills. They were tillers of the soil and keepers of flocks and herds, and in this free, independent life, with its opportunities for labor and study and meditation, they learned of God and taught their children of His works and ways.”—Ibid., pp. 33, 34 (emphasis added).
“At the creation, labor was appointed as a blessing. It meant development, power, happiness. The changed condition of the earth through the curse of sin has brought a change in the conditions of labor; yet though now attended with anxiety, weariness, and pain, it is still a source of happiness and development. And it is a safeguard against temptation. Its discipline places a check on self-indulgence, and promotes industry, purity, and firmness. Thus it becomes a part of God’s great plan for our recovery from the Fall.”—Ibid., p. 214.
“To Adam and Eve was committed the care of the garden, ‘to dress it and to keep it’ (Genesis 2:15). Though rich in all that the Owner of the universe could supply, they were not to be idle. Useful occupation was appointed them as a blessing, to strengthen the body, to expand the mind, and to develop the character.”
“The book of nature, which spread its living lessons before them, afforded an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. On every leaf of the forest and stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and sea and sky, God’s name was written. With both the animate and the inanimate creation—with leaf and flower and tree, and with every living creature, from the leviathan of the waters to the mote in the sunbeam—the dwellers in Eden held converse, gathering from each the secrets of its life. God’s glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, ‘the balancings of the clouds’ (Job 37:16), the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night—all were objects of study by the pupils of earth’s first school.”—Ibid., p. 21 (emphasis supplied).
When God created humanity, He made Adam in His image, with characteristics akin to his Creator. He designed that we should have a part in the work upon Earth. He designed for us to be laborers together with Him, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 3:9.
“In our labor we are to be workers together with God. He gives us the earth and its treasures; but we must adapt them to our use and comfort. He causes the trees to grow; but we prepare the timber and build the house. He has hidden in the earth the gold and silver, the iron and coal; but it is only through toil that we can obtain them. . . .
“To us has been given a degree of control over the forces of nature. As God called forth the earth in its beauty out of chaos, so we can bring order and beauty out of confusion. And though all things are now marred with evil, yet in our completed work we feel a joy akin to His, when, looking on the fair earth, He pronounced it ‘very good.’ ”—Ibid., pp. 214, 215.
We can find, as we study the childhood and youth of Jesus the basics that we also need in our heavenly education.
“As Jesus worked in childhood and youth, mind and body were developed. He did not use His physical powers recklessly, but in such a way as to keep them in health, that He might do the best work in every line. He was not willing to be defective, even in the handling of tools. He was perfect as a workman, as He was perfect in character. By His own example He taught that it is our duty to be industrious, that our work should be performed with exactness and thoroughness, and that such labor is honorable. The exercise that teaches the hands to be useful and trains the young to bear their share of life’s burdens gives physical strength, and develops every faculty. All should find something to do that will be beneficial to themselves and helpful to others. God appointed work as a blessing, and only the diligent worker finds the true glory and joy of life. The approval of God rests with loving assurance upon children and youth who cheerfully take their part in the duties of the household, sharing the burdens of father and mother. Such children will go out from the home to be useful members of society.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 72.
“The childhood and youth of Christ were spent in humble circumstances, under conditions that were favorable to the development of a sound constitution. His life was passed mostly in the open air. He drank of the pure streams of water and ate the fruit of the gardens. He passed up and down the steep mountain paths, and through the streets of Nazareth, as He went to and from His place of toil to His home. He enjoyed the varied notes of the birds as they caroled forth their praise to their Creator. He took delight in the beauty of the flowers that decked the fields. He noted with joy the glory of the heavens, the splendor of sun, moon, and stars, and looked upon the rising and setting sun with admiration. The book of nature was open before Him, and He enjoyed its tender lessons. The everlasting hills, the olive groves, were favorite places of resort where He went to commune with His Father. He was filled with divine wisdom, and through the study of nature, and by meditation upon the communion with God, His spiritual powers were strengthened.”—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 135.
As you study the Scriptures thinking of the subject of agriculture and its principles, we find an abundance of counsel, examples, and illustrations, especially given by Christ.
“Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil. . . . In the plowing and sowing, the tilling and reaping, He teaches us to see an illustration of His work of grace in the heart. So in every line of useful labor and every association of life, He desires us to find a lesson of divine truth. Then our daily toil will no longer absorb our attention and lead us to forget God; it will continually remind us of our Creator and Redeemer. The thought of God will run like a thread of gold through all our homely cares and occupations. For us the glory of His face will again rest upon the face of nature. We shall ever be learning new lessons of heavenly truth and growing into the image of His purity.”—The Adventist Home, p. 144.