A Child

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still
It bent and yielded to my will.
I came again when days were past
The bit of clay was hard at last;
My early impress still it bore
And I could change it nevermore.

You take a piece of living clay
And gently form it day by day;
Molding with your power and art
A young child's soft, yielding heart.
Coming again when years are gone,
It is an adult you look upon.
Your early impress still is borne
And you can change it nevermore!

—A.J. Smith (adapted).

The Bible in the Home

It is told of the mother of a family whose husband was an unbeliever and openly jested at religion, that she nevertheless succeeded in bringing all her children up in the fear of the Lord. When she was asked how she managed this, she said: "Because to the authority of a father I did not oppose the authority of a mother, but that of God. From their earliest years my children have always seen the Bible on my table. This Holy Book has constituted the whole of their religious instruction. I was silent, that I might allow it to speak. Did they propose a question, did they commit any fault, did they perform any good action— I opened the Bible, and the Bible answered, reproved or encouraged them. The constant reading of the Scriptures alone has wrought the prodigy which surprises you."

—Selected

Mothers & Fractions

A schoolteacher was giving a lesson in fractions. "Johnny, suppose there were seven in your family—five children besides father and mother. Suppose there was a pie for dessert. What fraction of the pie would you get?"

Johnny answered, "one-sixth."

"Are you sure about that?" replied the teacher. "Don't you understand about fractions?"

"I know about fractions and I know about mothers, too," remarked Johnny. "Mother would say she didn't want any!"

On this earth no blessing of life can be much sweeter to a mother than that of holding within her arms a little new life which God has given her. However, let every mother consider this fact: the privilege, God-given, of bearing a child, carries with it a corresponding responsibility. The shaping and molding of a life requires a wisdom far exceeding that of the human mind. That wisdom can be found only in a personal knowledge of Christ as Saviour, together with the guidance of His Holy Spirit. The fate of the human soul, the destiny of the human race, are involved in the sacred trust of motherhood.

—The Log

Martin Luther always testified that much of the blessing of his life was due to the influence of his mother. It was said of her that she was a worthy woman, distinguished above all else for her modesty and fear of God and constant communion with God in prayer.

John Scudder, a promising young physician in New York, while visiting one of his patients one day many years ago, picked up a tract on the table and read it. The result was that he and his wife went to India as missionaries. Their nine children, seven sons and two daughters, all became missionaries in that land.

When Mr. Scudder was asked as to the cause of all this he said, "The only explanation I can give is the payers of their mother. She was accustomed to spend the birthday of each child in all-day prayers for him. God answered her prayers."

—Selected

The mother of Abraham Lincoln had as her chief textbook the Bible. President Lincoln said of her, "All that I am and all that I ever hope to be, I owe to my darling mother."

The danger of not raising our children for the Lord is not so much that they will grow up not believing, but that they will believe anything.