In days like the present, when the forces of evil are so manifest, and the attention paid to children in every sphere is so increased, it behooves all those who seek to teach in the Sunday School to ask themselves what their one great aim is in connection with their work.
Do we set out to educate the children, simply to teach them scriptures and hymns? Or can we sum up our objective in the words of the apostle when he wrote:
“I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some”? (1 Cor. 9:22).
There never was a time when the devil was busier in seeking to capture the children. His agents are to be found in the picture show, where the children have a chance to see all the wickedness possible, and hear now what no children should hear. Then there are the (lay-school teachers, who insidiously instill into the minds of the children that they need not believe the Bible. There are the Red Sunday Schools, some Socialist, some Communist, all teaching the little ones the most awful blasphemy. The papers too that the children read are filled with that which can never turn their hearts heavenwards.
O! what a solemn time we are living in! What are we doing, who know the Lord, know His saving grace, His power to save and His willingness too? Are we seeking by all means in our power to save some from the clutches of Satan and the doom of the unsaved?
Then there is another question. How much longer have we to bring the gospel before the children? We speak of the Lord’s coming, and everything would surely indicate that it draws nigh. So we may really have very little time left at our disposal. How the words of the Lord Jesus ring in our ears:
“I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).
O! how ready He ever was to meet the need of those around.
Nicodemus found Him perfectly accessible at night, and heard those wonderful words, recorded for us in John 3, from His lips.
The woman of Samaria found Him ready to meet her need, although He was wearied with His journey.
Blessed Lord and Master, what a blessed pathway of service and love was Thine!
Now He is in the glory, and His Word to us surely is “Occupy till I come.” There is a limit to our opportunities, and His coming which will summon us to glory, will leave those still unsaved behind for judgment. May we be stirred up to
“Work while the daylight lasteth
Ere the shades of night come on
Ere the Lord of the vineyard cometh
And the laborer’s work is done.”
Our desire is that the Lord may bring home to the hearts of each of us who labor among the young, how short the time is, the imminence of His coming, and the importance of realizing; that nothing less than the salvation of the children should be our object.
“Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep” (Rom. 13:11).
“The time is short” (1 Cor. 7:29).
“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8).