The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-10-23

udDle 10 TIE SUI
dent in his af-
ter life. l know
little girl who,
after few lessons In drawing in the
public school, entered a contest for
certain prize where there were $4,000
competitors and she won the prize.
One of the signs Of the times is the
increased demand for skilled labor.
Cheap labor is plentiful, but skilled la
Dor is scarce. Hence, all over the coun-
try are springing up technical schools
for training the eye, the ear, the voice;
schools for nurses, journalists and de-
signers. The world is weary of incom-
petent help. Wages are no considera-
ton, only give us men and women who
know how.
Since the Bible Is the instrument
by which conversion Is usually effec-
ted. every Christian should learn how
to use 1t. The Bible Is called the
sword of the Spirit, but Of what use
Is the sword to one who has not taken
fencing lessons? His opponent can
disarm him in moment. and leave
him utterly defenseless. Even so many
Christians who might WELD the sword
Of the Spirit with tremendous power
are almost impotent for the lack Of
little training In the use Of the Bible.
A girl Of sixteen who had been con-
verted only a week found In the In
Quiry room q married couple with
no one to talk to them. She ap-
preached them modestly, opened up
the subject Of their relation to the Saw
iOr and, when they offered any excuse,
she would answer, "Yes 1t may seem
SO to you but God says so and So" and
then she would read the passage. Be
fore long all three of them were ON
their knees In prayer.
A friend of mine was giving studies
on personal work In New England
town. A woman present, whose hus-
band was sceptic, committed to men,
appropriate to her husbands case. At
the supper table that night he began
as usual some attack on the Bible.
When he had finished, she quietly
quoted the two verses that she had
learned.
''Where do you get thatT he inquir-
ed fiercely.
I'm the Bible"
do you mean to say that those
words are In the Bible2"
81 do"
"ShOw them to me-"
She brought the Bible and pointed
out the passage. When he read 1t, he
laid down the book, and said, "Wife,
l am wrong and there is only one thing
for me to do, and that is confess my
sin to God and plead for mercy" and
pushing his chair from the table he
added, 81 might as well do 1t now as
ever" and together they knelt in pray
er for the first time in their lives. All
the wife had done was to quote pas
sage Of Scripture; but 1t was the pas
sage that fitted the case, and hence the
result.
A man might own q whole drug
store; but If he did not know where
to find the drugs, or their various me-
dicinal properties, he would be Of little
use to the sick. Even so q Christian
may have a Bible that contains rene
dies for every spiritual condition but
IL he does not know where to find
them, or how to use them, he will have
little success as a soul-winner. The
training-class shows how to diagnose
a case, what remedies to use and
where to find them.
I know of training class out or
which three young men started for the
ministry, two young women went into
mission work and one offered herself
for the foreign field. Out of another
class of 16 members. two became min
listers, IL went to the foreign field, one
Is a trained nurse, and one Is relig-
IOus reporter on daily paper. An
other class Of 20 members sent nearly
nil the number into some form Of
Christian work. The fact Is, that when
people know how to do Christian work
well, they love II. Why not have a
training class in your church? These
are stirring times, and God needs eve
cry available worker VIII you be one,
and will you advocate training class
In your community until you get itf
Many person knows that he ought
to be Christian, and expects to take
that step sometime, but fails to realize
| that IL II Is the right thing to do at
( all, 1t ought to be done at once. BY
neglecting to take this step immediate
ly he Is losing valuable time which
ought to be used In training for the
| Masters service, and whole lifetime
| Of service is altogether too small to
repay the debt of gratitude which he
owes to the Lord Jesus Christ, who
cave his life for him.