Greetings MOL Family!

Welcome back to class, as we seek to get a better understanding of the life of Jesus, growing up in this world. Far from feeling demoted, down under, under privileged, our students should feel a holy satisfaction in getting the type of education that Jesus received, right? Provided that we’re giving it to them…

In The Quiet Hours, With God

But if in our endeavor to keep up with the Jones, we water down and dilute the inspired messages, and fix the attention on mere ceremony and on tradition, then our youth will not receive what Jesus received.

The Jewish teachers gave their attention to matters of ceremony. The mind was crowded with material that was worthless to the learner, and that would not be recognized in the higher school of the courts above. The experience which is obtained through a personal acceptance of God’s word had no place in the educational system. – The Desire of Ages, pg. 69

Now comes the sentence that I long shall impress every one of us as homeheads, as teachers, as staff members, and as fellow students in the school of Christ:

Absorbed in the round of externals, the students found no quiet hours to spend with God. They did not hear His voice speaking to the heart. In their search after knowledge, they turned away from the Source of wisdom. – Ibid

Now what is the word used here that has to do with time? — Hours. What kind of hours? — Quiet hours. What for? — To listen to the voice of God. And those were in that educational program of those established schools? Were they? No, they weren’t. Why weren’t they? The time was all filled up. There wasn’t any room. There wasn’t any time. The student had to get from this, to this, to this, to this, to this; so that from the time he got up in the morning, until he went to bed at night, there was always something going on.

And the Jews had all that outlined in form and ceremony. Before you went to meals you had to wash, and you had to wash in a certain way. You remember they criticized Jesus’ disciples, because they hadn’t washed? It wasn’t that they were worrying about bacteriology. They had not complied with the form and ceremony of how a man should wash up to the elbow, before he ate; and so all day long.

Now, homeheads, teachers, could it be possible that in the program in your home, that things could get so crowded that the students would find it difficult, if not impossible, to spend quiet hours alone with God? Could that happen? It happens to everybody, unless they’re determined for it not to happen.

And no greater lesson can I give you in this series on homeheading than to emphasize this point. You need it. Your fellow workers need it. Your students need it. There is nothing that I can teach you in these lessons that is so important that it should eclipse that. Lectures about nutrition don’t add any amino acids to the muscle structure of your body. Lectures on exercise don’t develop any muscle. Sermons, classes can only point us to the eating and the exercise that will develop us physically.

And so, it is in what we’re working on right now. There are lessons that Jesus got in that program at Nazareth, that our students are to get, and that homeheads are to help them get, these lessons of private devotions. Are your children/students getting it? If not, oh, I appeal to you to not let this lesson be like the seed that fell by the wayside or that fell among thorns. Let it fall into good ground, as your heart opens to this.

Jesus Is Our Example

Do you believe that you really ought to be spending more time in Bible study and prayer? Do you think that you need to be getting more time in outdoor physical exercise? Do you think you ought to be spending more time in missionary work than you are spending? Well, in the name of common sense, how are you going to get more time for this, and this, and this, unless you spend less time in something else? Is that a fair question? It is the question, dear friends. It is the question.

I heard about a plan that a family has for having family worship. In this particular home, the children and youth and the parents get up in the morning, and each have their personal devotions, alone with God. Then when they come together at family worship, they go around the circle, and each one tells what he got. I’m sure it is interesting and inspiring. Don’t you think so?

I wouldn’t say that’s the only way to have family worship. I would say it’s one way, and a very interesting way, a novel way. But it builds on what we’re studying about here. It’s sort of a potluck, each one bringing a covered dish, uncovering it. Each one bringing of the manna they have gotten.

And so, Desire of Ages says:

The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue schools. – Ibid., pg. 70

 

Jesus secured His education in the home. His mother was His first human teacher. From her lips, and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things. – Ministry of Healing, pg. 399

Then part of this training He got, He got through His ear because He got it from her lips. The only way you can get knowledge from somebody’s lips is to what? Listen. But, He also got it from the scrolls of the prophets. How did He get that? — Through His eyes. He learned to read.

From her lips, and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things. He lived in a peasant’s home, and faithfully and cheerfully acted His part in bearing the household burdens. – Ibid

Did He have a part in emptying the garbage, in bringing the wood, in carrying the water? There were more chores to do in that Nazareth home than most of us can think up, and He did what? He acted His part in bearing the household burdens. Continuing:

He who had been the commander of heaven, was a willing servant, a loving, obedient son. He learned a trade, and with His own hands worked in the carpenter’s shop with Joseph. – Ibid., pgs. 399-400

Let me ask you, beside His work in the home, did He have work outside the home? Where? — In the carpenter’s shop. Now, get that picture. You know there are people, men are notorious for this, they have the idea that if they’re off at the factory, off at the shop, off at the office, when they come back home they shouldn’t do anything. Jesus didn’t practice that program. He had a part in the home duties, and dear men that are homeheading, do not deprive yourself of the privilege of having some part in the home duties.

You can’t put in all day at it like somebody has to around the home. But in the morning, before you’re gone, or if you are fortunate enough to be at dinner –after dinner, or in the evening sometime– be sure that there’s opportunity for you to have a part in the duties of the home. If you expect your students to learn that, you must set the example.

And don’t do it as drudgery. Don’t do it as a burden. Do it as a privilege. I want to tell you this; there is a sense of belonging when you’ve done something around the home, if it’s nothing more than sweep off the porch.

I learned to sweep when I was a little boy. I learned to wash dishes when I was a little boy, dry dishes, sweep the floor and mop. We were poor and I’m so thankful. There are a lot of things I can’t do. I can’t build a house, but I can keep one clean that somebody has built. I can’t go out and run the tractor, but I can use a hoe or a rake in the garden. And I long that each one get the joy of doing practical things around the home.

Now, if the only reason you can think of doing that is so you won’t have to work so hard, you’ve missed the point. When you have guests in the home, cultivate the gracious way of getting them to share in your work. What for? So you won’t have to work too hard? No. So they get the joy of participation. If a guest offers to help wash the dishes, don’t say, “Oh, no, you’re our guest. You sit down here. We’ll wash the dishes.” Don’t do that. Don’t set your children/students that example. Never give them the idea that work around the home is something that you wished you didn’t have to be done, so you could all just sit down and read the Bible, or go out and do missionary work. Jesus is our example.

In the garb of a common laborer, He walked the streets of the little town, going to and returning from His humble work. – Ibid

What does the garb mean? — The clothes. He was dressed like a what? — Common laborer. Why? He was. The Son of God, He that the angels loved to obey, here He is, dressed like a workman. And how did He get from home to the shop? Did He have a van, station wagon, Volkswagen, or any other kind of a wagon? How did He get there? He walked.

I remember years ago, seeing a picture, of course it was an imaginary one, as any picture of those times must be, of Jesus and Joseph and Mary. And the carpenter shop and the home were all in one building. But this isn’t so because this says He did what?

He walked the streets of the little town, going to and returning from His humble work. – Ibid

If you’d like to put down Sons and Daughters of God, page 135, it tells us not only that He walked the streets of that little town, but that He climbed “the steep mountain paths” going to and from His work. So, He didn’t live next door to the shop.

The closer we get to the walking experience the more we have the opportunity of getting what who got? Jesus. Well, somebody says, “But time is precious.” But notice Christ. I suppose His time was valuable too, wasn’t it? I hope so. Even though He was working all day in physical exercise, in addition to that was getting the physical exercise of what? Walking where? — From His home to His work and from His work back to His home.

Here is one of the most wonderful paragraphs on the life of Jesus I’ve ever read:

The childhood of Jesus, spent in poverty, had been uncorrupted by the artificial habits of a corrupt age. – Ibid., pg. 52

Are we in a corrupt age? Is life largely artificial? Jesus, thank God, was uncorrupted by the artificial habits of a corrupt age.

Working at the carpenter’s bench, bearing the burdens of home life, learning the lessons of obedience and toil, He found [What?] recreation… – Ibid

Every Saturday night, do you know what thousands of members of the Remnant church think of when they hear that word, recreation? — A skating party, a movie, a feed, some fun. But, Jesus found what? — Recreation. Where?

…amidst the scenes of nature, gathering knowledge as He sought to understand nature’s mysteries. He studied the word of God, and His hours of greatest happiness were found when He could turn aside from the scene of His labors to go into the fields, to meditate in the quiet valleys, to hold communion with God on the mountainside, or amid the trees of the forest. The early morning often found Him in some secluded place, meditating, searching the Scriptures, or in prayer. With the voice of singing He welcomed the morning light. With songs of thanksgiving He cheered His hours of labor, and brought heaven’s gladness to the toilworn and disheartened. – Ibid

Isn’t that beautiful? Oh friends, that’s what I want our children to know. That’s what I want our young people to know. That’s what I want our parents, our teachers, our leaders to know. What do you say? Is it worth it? How much is it worth? It is worth any price. And that’s what it will take.

Next week, we’ll be continuing on with our class rotation. Invite a friend, and we’ll see you then… 

–Continue on to the next study-

_______
* This study has been adapted from classes taken by Elder W.D. Frazee.