need to pray that the Lord will help us to be wise and understanding so that we may protect our little ones from all the evils around us, as well as from the evils of our own intentions, ignor ance or lack of discernment. Chapter Three T he N ew T estament speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was only a little boy by saying, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.” Our Saviour was brought into the world by the heaven ly Father to be the incarnate Son of God, to die for our sins, and to rise again for our redemption. The Lord placed Him in the home of Mary and Joseph. They must have been wonder ful people. Mary, it says in the Scrip tures, was full of grace. Joseph, His foster father, must have been a man of great maturity. It was our heavenly Father’s pleasure to give to the Lord Jesus, as an infant, a human father and mother to care and provide for Him. In addition to providing proper food and health for our children, parents must provide a proper home. It cer tainly does not need to be a palatial mansion, but rather a humble abode where the Lord Jesus Christ has the pre-eminence. Do you fathers have a little bench at which your boy can play? Does he use a hammer or a chisel or some other tool? Oh, you say, “He’ll dull the chisel.” Yes, that is exactly what he will do. But it is far better to have a dull chisel and a sharp boy! Sometimes we do not understand this. I knew of a teacher in Minneapolis who told of one of her experiences. Little Teddy came to school on one particular day and declared to his teacher, “You know what happened last night? I went to my first cub scout meeting. I went to the door of Jimmy’s house and his mother opened the door. She told me, ‘Who are you? Did you come to the Cub meeting?’ I said, ‘I 5
stages of development. One of these is social disease, such as “syphilis.” Venereal disease affects the formation of the life cell. Another problem is white lead. This substance, found in many paints, can be most injurious to an unborn child. The third is radiation. This is the reason we are concerned about such things as X-rays. The last is alcohol. You will not hear anything of its dangers in advertise ments. Scientists believe that alcohol can and does definitely affect an off spring. Dr. C. F. Hodge of Clark Uni versity in Worcester, Massachusetts carried on an experiment with psy chological and physiological aspects of liquor. He took four cocker spaniels that were of the same strain and back ground. He mated them together and gave them the names of Nick and Topsy. He had a very interesting sense of humor. The other two dogs he called Bum and Tipsy. He tested the dogs as to the affect of alcohol upon their offspring. Nick and Topsy had no al cohol with their meals while Bum and Tipsy did. Checking the litters, the two which had no alcohol had 45 pups born to their union. Only 4 died and 90.2% were normal. Bum and Tipsy, on the other hand, only had 23 pups bom to their union. Nineteen of them died. It was Dr. B. G. Fritz, a research scholar in Europe, who wrote a book in 1939 which was titled, “Alcohol, Another Germ Poison.” He declared, in reporting on 491 cases in investigations of alcohol, that there is injury done to the offspring as a result of the con sumption of alcohol. Knowing these things, and being guided by them, is one of the values of a real Christian life. When we follow our Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the Guide and Teacher of our lives, then He gives us a discernment as to moral values and character. When we place our lives and our children in His care, when we pray for our child while the mother is yet carrying it, in those early years the Lord will give His discernment and grace. He wants to help us to live a consistent, righteous Christian life. We
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