Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-03-01

apolt my Fetners business Luxe s'4s
This lesson IL the one solitary in
stance recorded in the strangely seal
ed thirty years Of the Masters life.
Here is an illustration of what is
meant by the inspiration Of election
only those things that were Of vital
and redemptivs Importance in the life
of Jesus are recorded. John says,
Many other signs truly did Jesus
which are not written 10 this book:
But these are written, that ys might
believe that Jesus IL the Christ, the
son Of God; and that believing ye
might have life through his name"
For this reason. we should value every
word that 10 written
The lesson furnishes q model In
character building for the youth.
Jesus is the example. and the model
boy. Jesus was q real boy. He ate.
drank. played. grew. asked questions,
just as other boys do. He was not a
toy. or a doll-baby; he was a popu-
lar boy Tvs. 80: He had surplus en-
ergy the same as other boys. only It
was directed In the right way.
His character. like all other char
acter building. was q growth: He In
creased In wisdom and stature" No
character II instantaneous; It IN the
work of growth and Of years, indeed.
of lifetime. An icicle Is formed drop
by drop. Character is formed By sin
gle words and acts A mushroom may
grow in a night. but surely not the
character OF a man. Just a. words
and sentences are formed BY means
OF the single letters Of the alphabet.
so words. thoughts. deeds. actions.
looks. motives-these arc the alphabet
from which we spell character. Sow
a thought. and reap a word; SOW q
word, and reap an act; SOW an act,
and reap a habit; SOW ha0it, and
reap a character: SOW q character. and
reap destiny.
Character may be developed In OBJ
security. The question was asked.
Can any good thing come out of Naz-
areth?" The greatest life that ever
lived came from this obscure village.
Lincoln came from the log cabin No
environment IL too narrow for char
acter. Fill the little place to the full.
and the large viii be provided.
Christ's character was developed In
the home. He had Christian home
the greatest gift of God this side Of
heaven. What chance has many q
child today to build character In a
home where the parents know not God,
never read the Bible. never pray. new
er go to churchi II for no other rea-
son, parents should become Christians
FOR their children's sake. II our chill
dren are lost. we parents are to blame.
unless we have set before them the
example of a Christian life.
AS boy. Christ was obedient to his
parents. This was a manly thing.
Parents are in the place OF God To the
child: God cannot be everywhere, so
he made parents. The first command
ment on the second table is obedience
TO parents. and 1t Is the first COM
mandment with promise The apron
strings Of the mother may become the
reins Of government of the nation. We
must obey before we can command
The character Of Jesus was develop
ed in the church also His parents
we're churchgoers, and they had Gull
tivated that habit in the child In
speaking of Jesus as a churchgoer.
Luke says that "as his custom was,
be went into the synagogue What
great thoughts must have come to the
mind of Christ as he visited the tenn
pie! What dormant personalities were
aroused as he sat and listened to the
exposition of Gods world Humanity
speaking, Christ owed a great deal In
the development OF his character to
his attendance at the temple Can a
symmetrical character be produced
outside Of the church and religion?
We think not; certainly the best char
acter cannot be produced in ona who
ignores these. In spite of all her fail
ures, the church is the best institution
in the world today for the building of
character. We do our children great
wrong when we deprive them Of the
privileges Of the church.
But jesus was also a member of the
Bible sehool-the teaching part Of the
church. This is evident from the fact
that the instruction received was In
the form Of catechization--he was an
swering and asking questions No
doubt many Of the scripture passages
so often quoted by him IN after years
were learned in the Jewish Bible
school
The boy Jesus was an interested
as well a. an interesting scholar In
the school He was no mere visitor.
He came with well prepared lesson,
and that Indicated that he had studied
the lesson at home under the instruc-
lion of ais parents What q lesson for
parents today!
Have You ever considered how many
great and noble men the Sunday
school OF our land have been instru-
mental In producing? Die on ever
think how many Of the most infuen-
tial men Of the world today give their
time to Sunday school work. thereby
recognizing the power that their own
early training in the Sunday school
had been In their livesf
Consider the great characters that
have played upon the stage Of Ameri-
can history-or the history Of the