The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-09-20

D MWM INNNNE ~ NNA' NNANN MNNN w NNf q
tract of land Tor $1,000 l say Mr.
Jones. why are YOU buying this landy
oh" you answer. Il am buying thi'
land for a homestead where I can live
and my children can live after me
generation after generation" "All
rieht" / say. Il can sell you the land
but YOU will have 20 pay the taxes and
fulnn your obligations TO the county
aud your children will have 10 do the
same when they inherit" You under.
stand that. and l say Then IN con
sidcration Of $1,000 VIII give you a
deed OF that land for yourself and your
heirs forever. That deed will seal the
bargain" Just so tho descendants OF
Abraham entered into covenant with
God. They were under obligations Of
which the rite was the visible sign
But the rite counted for nothing II the
obligations were not fulfilled The
later history Of Abraham's descendants
nrovcd that the real condition was ODE
dience and that when this was not
rendered the outward sign was not ac
cent,d Il became mOckery when II
no longer represented d change o.
hc0rt
My brother. DO you wonder that Da
yid said. Thy statutes have been my
songs when l was baby In the era
dlef' Was not David consecrated t
God whom ne was a child by g0dll
father and mothcr7 VIII you not al
low Christ 10 take You and hold yor
close 10 his loving heart because your
Christian mother gave YOU TO him 10y
prayer and pledge when you were .
little innocent chlldY Thou divine Fa.
ther hv the sacred mounds Of my ia
theirs ana mothers graves, ] thank
thee that thou art and always wilt be-
covenant making Christ and wilt
save me in answer 20 the prayers OF
nv loving parents for Christs sake.
But the statutes were more than th"
guardian angels which sang the song
of the Nativity over the manger OF
bethlehem o. Judnea They sang FOR
David the happy songs Of childhood
Tho statutes became songs of reIoic
ing They were the conditions of son
shin and inheritance which il was n
iov "a fulfill They We're the sweetest
recoI cctions OF the old homestead
when be was "A growing boy. They
were the songs which made his father
and mother and brothers one AZ the
family altar They were the songs
which taught him how 10 say his
evening prayers at his mothers knee
They were the songs which made him
as q child study the old Mosaic laws
They were the songs by which he was
corrected when he did wrong And
they were the songs which taught him
faith IN God as we'll as faith I'm his
fellow men In other words. they were
the same laws by which you and as
boys and girls were developed I'm a
Christian home for our life's struggle
If YOU did not learn these statutes OF
God when you were young. then you
are poor indeed If you did learn the
laws OF God when you were young
then the memory Of them makes you
rich indeed.
The happiness OF our childhood days
was not dependent upon the size OF our
fathers pocketh0ok But % great |
extent II was dependent upon whether |
our parents obcyed md made We obey |
the statutes Of our Lord I'm the house |
of our pilgrimage Some time ago a |
sorrOwing son was on the way back |
90 the village Of his boyhood 20 bury /
an aged parent. How much was your
father worth when he diedf' asked one
Of his friends. Nothing. | think he
was worth less than nothing l sup
pose I shall have 10 bury him" But
the day after the funeral the young
man was going down the village street.
AS ne walked along ne met an old man.
who held out his hand and said. God
bless yOu. my boy. jim, you had a
good father / knew him for over
forty years and / never knew him 20
i0 one act which did not stamp him as
q noble brave Christian hero" And
little farther on a young girl stopped
him and said: Jim. your father was
ne best friend my mother ever had
When papa died he gathered IN all our
larvests and has made it possible for
rs 20 live" A little farther on ne
net another man, who said. Jim.
here IS not man. woman OF child IN
his whole region who has not been
brought nearer To God ON account of
he noble life of your father" When
he young man turned his steps toward
he old home he said 10 himself |
We'll my father did not have much
money. but ne was rich. lie lived rich
n Gods grace. and he died triumphant
ID Gods love. and / guess / have in
ierited as much good as any boy
0uld receive from any parent"
Tell me, friend. was not the religious
raining Of your bOyhoOd the sweet
81 memory you have of the old home
ieadi When your parents were bring
x you up YOU thought those statutes
God were awfully strict 1t did ,
,em at times as though Sunday would f.
ever get through When you got up
irly I'm the morning there were the
aw baseball and the fine bat. "No. no."
nd mother; you cannot use them
'day. Better put them away I'm the D..
osct, and then you will be out Of {
mptation." And then when the 9th
: boys were ready TO 20 or fishing
)u had TO come back for family pray
s. Then those long tramps with the l..
'llcate food for the sick ncighh0rs- il j
n seem that mother was always g
nding food 10 some one. And then =
lose Bible stories you had 10 learn ~
hen Robinson CrusOe' and that new .
lok Of Jules Verne were lying 80 II
how you did grumblc and Fl
visit and fume and worry And then b
seemed as though your father kept tC
regular hotel for an the ministers az
no came 70 your town Then your III