Is it RIGHT or W RONG ? A HEART-SEARCHING MESSAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE By Allison Arrowood
H AVE you ever defiantly said, “ No one can boss me” ? Perhaps, momentarily, the statement kept someone from ruling you, but you were yielding to another mas ter stronger than that individual. You had forgotten that some habits make you their slaves. They have more power in your life than you realize. You will find that out when you en deavor to free yourself from their dominion. Most of your habits have mastered you for so many years that you yield to them “ on the spur of the moment” without thinking. Aristotle said: 7 say that habit’s but long practice, Friend, And this becomes men’s nature in the end. Christian young people must classify their habits as either Christlike or un-Christlike. Will you take inventory of some of your habits as Christian fellows and girls?
During the Civil War, a farmer boy heard General Lee order his troops to attack Gettysburg rather than Harrisburg. The boy hurried with the news tokGovernor Curtin who said to his officers, “ I’d give my right hand to know if that boy is telling the truth.” A corporal stepped forward and said, “ Sir, I know that lad. It is impossible for him to lie. There is not a drop of false blood in his veins!” In fifteen minutes the Union troops were marching into Gettysburg to win their final vic tory! Could an officer move an entire army upon your word? Can your Lord count upon your lips always to be truthful for His glory? Probably you would not rob a store, but do you “ slip” chalk, pencils, paper, etc., home from school for your own use? Per haps you would not steal your friend’s purse, but you steal the information from his examination paper and turn your paper so that he can see your answer! You wouldn’t carry your notes to a test, but if the teacher leaves the room, you quickly look into your book for a date or a name! You would not swim in a restricted lake or stream if the ranger were there, but the minute he leaves, you break the law and go swimming! Has it become a habit just to watch the congregation while you sit in the choir loft, rather than entering with all your heart into the worship service? Has church become to you a •place to “catch up” on the week’s gossip with your best friend, to read the next installment of the serial in your Sunday School paper, to manicure your fingernails, or take a little nap? Souls have been eternally lost because of young people whose irrev erence in God’s house has kept them from hearing the Holy Spirit speak to them. Do you just “get by” in your school work, or are you “tops” in all of your school activities for the glory of the Lord? When mother or father ask your help, do you do just enough to “keep peace in the family” ? If you are hired to clean a room, do you remove only the dirt that shows, or do you clean everything thoroughly? “ Little things” you say? Yes, but things that sometimes keep others from wanting to know our Saviour—things that are expected in the lives of those who are not sons and daugh ters of the King, but things that disappoint others in the testimony of Christian young people. God says, “ And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). Can He depend upon your truthfulness, honesty, and faithfulness in all cir cumstances for His glory, that other young people may want to know Him too? QCf)e petter <§tft H E clutched the red-tipped matches in his tiny hand, Nor would he give them up. But mothers understand A gentle way to deal with stubborn little boys. And so, with no harsh arguments, no fuss, no noise, I held an apple out. He let the matches fall, And reached out for the better gift. And that was all. A ND so our blessed Lord deals with His children here. Lest we should hold the cities of this world too dear And thus become besmirched with evil, scorched with fire, He gently bids our wondering eyes to look up higher. And we, beholding there the New Jerusalem, Alight with golden glory, brilliant as a gem, Can never love again the dull and dingy earth, Nor in its tinsel treasures find the slightest worth. K EEP Thou the vision, precious Lord, before our eyes, As we pursue our pilgrim way to Paradise! Martha Snell Nicholson. Page Nine
Photograph by Harold M. La/mbert
When you are asked a question, do people know that you tell the truth, or is there a question mark in their minds? A Christian worker said of a Sunday School teacher, “ I can believe only half of what she says.” Perhaps you see Sally coming down the sidewalk toward your home. Mentally you say, “ Oh, I surely hope that nuisance isn’t coming here! She always stays so long, and I never enjoy talking with her.” Sally does ring your door bell. As you open the door, you exclaim enthusiastically, “Why, Sally dear, I’m so glad to see you. I was just wishing that you would run over for a visit!” Perhaps Mrs. Blank comes to church wearing a new hat. As she walks down the aisle, you inwardly groan, “ What a horrid mess! I’ve never seen her wear a more ghastly color and the style is the worst yet this year!” After church, Mrs. Blank asks you how you like her new hat. “ It’s lovely,” you say, “just the kind you should always wear!” You promise when entrusted with a secret “not to tell a soul,” but when you see your dearest friend, you can hardly wait to tell her the news—“but you mustn’t tell anyone else, will you?” Just “white lies,” you say? Just remarks to keep from hurting people’s feeling? Does God classify lies as “white” or “ black” ? Are your “ polite lies” just gray in His sight? God says: “ We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves” (Isa. 28:15). “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do ly ing lips a prince” (Prov. 17:7). “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22). M A Y . 1 9 4 8
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