Sons and Daughters of God: The Better Inheritance, June 30

We Choose the Best in Life

An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4.

Our petitions to God should not proceed from hearts that are filled with selfish aspirations. God exhorts us to choose those gifts that will redound to His glory. He would have us choose the heavenly instead of the earthly. He throws open before us the possibilities and advantages of a heavenly commerce. He gives encouragement to our loftiest aims, security to our choicest treasure. When the worldly possession is swept away, the believer will rejoice in his heavenly treasure, the riches that cannot be lost in any earthly disaster. The Review and Herald, August 16, 1898. 

How sad it is that men turn from the immortal inheritance, and live for the gratification of pride, for selfishness and display, and through submission to the rule of Satan, lose the blessing which they might have both in this life and in the life to come. They might enter into the palaces of heaven, and associate on terms of freedom and equality with Christ and heavenly angels, and with the princes of God, and yet, incredible as it may seem, they turn from heavenly attractions.... 

Satan is contending for the souls of men.... He would not have them catch a glimpse of the future honor, the eternal glories, laid up for those who shall be inhabitants of heaven, or have a taste of the experience that gives a foretaste of the happiness of heaven....

Those who accept Christ as their Saviour have the promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come.... The lowliest disciple of Christ may become an inhabitant of heaven, an heir of God to an inheritance incorruptible, that fadeth not away. O that every one might make choice of the heavenly gift, become an heir of God to that inheritance whose title is secure from any destroyer, world without end! O, choose not the world! Fundamentals of Christian Education, 234, 235.

Sons and Daughters of God: Joseph Chose Life's Best, Samson Did Not, June 29

We Choose the Best in Life

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:8.

Few temptations are more dangerous or more fatal to young men than the temptation to sensuality and none if yielded to will prove so decidedly ruinous to soul and body for time and eternity. The welfare of his entire future is suspended upon the decision of a moment. Joseph calmly casts his eyes to heaven for help, slips off his loose outer garment, leaving it in the hand of his tempter and while his eye is lighted with determined resolve in the place of unholy passion, he exclaims, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” The victory is gained; he flees from the enchanter; he is saved. The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 1:1097.

Samson in his peril had the same source of strength as had Joseph. He could choose the right or the wrong as he pleased. But instead of taking hold of the strength of God, he permitted the wild passions of his nature to have full sway. The reasoning powers were perverted, the morals corrupted. God had called Samson to a position of great responsibility, honor, and usefulness; but he must first learn to govern by first learning to obey the laws of God.... Samson, under ... temptations, which he had brought upon himself, gave loose rein to passion. The path which he entered upon he found to end in shame, disaster, and death. What a contrast to the history of Joseph! The Signs of the Times, October 13, 1881. 

Amidst the snares to which all are exposed, they need strong and trustworthy defenses on which to rely.... The shield of grace can preserve all unconquered by the temptations of the enemy, though surrounded with the most corrupting influences. By firm principle, and unwavering trust in God, their virtue and nobleness of character can shine, and, although surrounded with evil, no taint need be left upon their virtue and integrity. Spiritual Gifts 3:145, 146.

Sons and Daughters of God: Discretion, June 28

 We Choose the Best in Life

Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Proverbs 2:11.

By your choice words and a consistent course of action, by your propriety, your earnest piety, make a telling confession of your faith, determined that Christ shall occupy the throne in the soul temple; and lay your talents without reserve at His feet to be employed in His service.... Make it the law of your life from which no temptation or side interest shall cause you to turn, to honor God. The Youth's Instructor, February 2, 1893. 

In this fast age, reeking with corruption, you are not safe unless you stand guarded. Virtue and modesty are rare. I appeal to you as followers of Christ, making an exalted profession, to cherish the precious, priceless gem of modesty. This will guard virtue. Child Guidance, 417. 

Holiness of heart will never lead to impure actions.... The truth of heavenly origin never degrades the receiver ...; on the contrary, it sanctifies the believer, refines his taste, elevates and ennobles him, and brings him into a close connection with Jesus. It leads him to regard the apostle Paul's injunction to abstain from even the appearance of evil, lest his “good should be evil spoken of.”

This is a subject to which we must give heed. We must guard against the sins of this degenerate age. We must stand aloof from everything that savors of undue familiarity. God condemns it. It is forbidden ground, upon which it is unsafe to set the feet. Every word and action should tend to elevate, refine, and ennoble the character. Testimonies for the Church 5:593, 594.

My good name is capital of far more value to me than gold or silver. Let me preserve it untarnished. If men assail that name, it shall not be because I have given them occasion to do so, but for the same reason that they spoke of evil of Christ,—because they hated the purity and holiness of His character; for it was a constant rebuke to them. Testimonies for the Church 5:595.

Sons and Daughters of God: Honesty, June 27

 We Choose the Best in Life

Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 2 Corinthians 8:21.

In all business transactions, we are to let the light shine decidedly. There is to be no sharp practice. Everything is to be done with the strictest integrity. Better consent to lose something financially than to gain a few shillings by sharp practice. We shall lose nothing in the end by fair dealing. We are to live the law of God in our world, and perfect a character after the divine similitude. All business, with those in the faith and those not in the faith, is to be transacted on square, righteous principles. Everything is to be seen in the light of God's law, everything done without fraud, without duplicity, without one tinge of guile. The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1158.

For a Babylonish robe and a paltry treasure of gold and silver, Achan consented to sell himself to evil, to bring upon his soul the curse of God, to forfeit his title to a rich possession in Canaan, and lose all prospect of the future, immortal inheritance in the earth made new. A fearful price indeed he paid for his ill-gotten gains! The Signs of the Times, May 5, 1881.

Deal honestly and righteously in this present evil world. Some will be honest when they see that honesty will not endanger their worldly interest; but all who act from this principle will have their names blotted out of the book of life.

Strict honesty must be cultivated. We can go through the world but once; we cannot come back to rectify any mistakes; therefore every move made should be with godly fear and careful consideration....

When God makes up His jewels, the true, the frank, the honest, will be His chosen ones, His treasures. Angels are preparing crowns for such; and light from the throne of God will be reflected in its splendor from these star-gemmed diadems. The Review and Herald, December 29, 1896. 

Sons and Daughters of God: True Beauty, June 26

 We Choose the Best in Life

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Psalm 90:17.

There is a natural tendency with all to be sentimental rather than practical. In view of this fact, it is important that parents, in the education of their children, should direct and train their minds to love truth, duty, and self-denial, and to possess noble independence, to choose to be right, if the majority choose to be wrong....

If they preserve to themselves sound constitutions and amiable tempers, they will possess true beauty that they can wear with a divine grace. And they will have no need to be adorned with artificials, for these are always expressive of an absence of the inward adorning of true moral worth. A beautiful character is of value in the sight of God. Such beauty will attract, but not mislead. Such charms are fast colors; they never fade.

The pure religion of Jesus requires of its followers the simplicity of natural beauty and the polish of natural refinement and elevated purity, rather than the artificial and false. Child Guidance, 424.

There is an ornament that will never perish, that will promote the happiness of all around us in this life, and will shine with undimmed luster in the immortal future. It is the adorning of a meek and lowly spirit.... Of how little value are gold or pearls or costly array in comparison with the loveliness of Christ. Natural loveliness consists in symmetry, or the harmonious proportion of parts, each with the other; but spiritual loveliness consists in the harmony of likeness of our souls to Jesus. This will make its possessor more precious than fine gold, even the golden wedge of Ophir. The grace of Christ is indeed a priceless adornment. It elevates and ennobles its possessor and reflects beams of glory upon others, attracting them also to the Source of light and blessing. Child Guidance, 423, 424.

Sons and Daughters of God: Divine Wisdom, June 25

 We Choose the Best in Life

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Proverbs 8:11.

If Adam and Eve had never touched the forbidden tree, the Lord would have imparted to them knowledge,—knowledge upon which rested no curse of sin, knowledge that would have brought them everlasting joy. The only knowledge they gained by their disobedience was a knowledge of sin and its results....

Age after age, the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon's research, they find it altogether vanity and nothingness in comparison with that science of true holiness which will open to them the gates of the city of God. The human ambition has been seeking for that kind of knowledge that will bring to them glory and self-exaltation and supremacy. Thus Adam and Eve were worked upon by Satan until God's restraint was snapped asunder, and their education under the teacher of lies began in order that they might have the knowledge which God had refused them. The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 1:1083. 

True wisdom is a treasure as lasting as eternity. Many of the world's so-called wise men are wise only in their own estimation. Content with the acquisition of worldly wisdom, they never enter the garden of God, to become acquainted with the treasures of knowledge contained in His holy Word. Supposing themselves to be wise, they are ignorant concerning the wisdom which all must have who gain eternal life.... The unlearned man, if he knows God and Jesus Christ, has a more enduring wisdom than has the most learned man who despises the instruction of God. The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1156,.

Divine wisdom is to be a lamp to your feet.... Everything that can be shaken will be shaken; but rooted and grounded in the truth, you will abide with those things that cannot be shaken. The Youth's Instructor, February 2, 1893.

Sons and Daughters of God: To Accept the Light God Sends, June 24

 We Choose the Best in Life

O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Psalm 43:3.

The Lord Jesus came to our world full of mercy, life, and light, ready to save those who should come unto Him. But He can save no one against his will. God does not force the conscience; He does not torture the body that He may compel men to compliance with His law. All this work is after the order of Satan....

The Lord has made it apparent that He proffers to the sinner the privilege of cooperating with God. He gives light, and furnishes evidence of the truth. He makes plain what are His requirements, and it is left with the sinner as to whether he will accept the truth, and receive grace and power by which he may comply with every condition, and find rest in giving willing service to Jesus Christ, who has paid the price of his redemption. If the sinner hesitates, and fails to appreciate the light that has reached his intellect and stirred the emotions of his soul, and refuses to render obedience to God, the light grows dim, has less and less force, and finally vanishes from his view. Those who fail to appreciate the first rays of light, will not heed more decided evidences of the truth. If the tender appeals of God fail to meet with a response in the heart of the sinner, the first impressions made upon his mind lose their significance, and he is finally left in darkness. The invitation is full of love. The light is as bright when he finally refuses it, as when it first dawned upon his soul; but through rejection of light, his soul becomes full of darkness, and does not realize what is the peril of disregarding the light. Christ says to such a soul, “Yet a little while is the light with you.” The Youth's Instructor, August 17, 1893.

Today make your calling and election sure. Peter gives a copy of the best life insurance policy in the world. He says: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you ... according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” The Youth's Instructor, December 7, 1893. 

Sons and Daughters of God: With a Happy Sabbath Day of Worship and Rest, June 23

 We Choose to Please God in All We Do

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, ... ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:3.

Whatever of ours God claims from us, He returns again, enriched, transfigured, with His own glory....

The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God's purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day more than on any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden. It was God's plan for the members of the family to be associated in work and study, in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his household, and both father and mother as teachers and companions of their children. But the results of sin, having changed the conditions of life, to a great degree prevent this association. Often the father hardly sees the faces of his children throughout the week. He is almost wholly deprived of opportunity for companionship or instruction. But God's love has set a limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath He places His merciful hand. In His own day He preserves for the family opportunity for communion with Him, with nature, and with one another.

Since the Sabbath is the memorial of creative power, it is the day above all others when we should acquaint ourselves with God through His works.... Happy the father and mother who can teach their children God's written Word with illustrations from the open pages of the book of nature; who can gather under the green trees, in the fresh, pure air, to study the Word and to sing the praise of the Father above.

By such associations parents may bind their children to their hearts, and thus to God, by ties that can never be broken. Education, 250, 251. 

The Sabbath should be made so interesting to our families that its weekly return will be hailed with joy. Testimonies for the Church 2:585. 

Sons and Daughters of God: With Holiness in All Conversation, June 22

 We Choose to Please God in All We Do

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 1 Peter 1:15.

Where the heart is purified and refined, and made fit for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the tongue will be sanctified to the glory of God.... You can surround your souls with an atmosphere that will be like breezes from the heavenly Eden. Open your heart to the Lord Jesus. Guard your tongue. Let not your tongue run at random in jesting and joking. These are signs that your heart needs to be cleansed from its defilement....

Our words index the state of our heart; and whether men talk much or little, their words express the character of their thoughts. A man's character may be quite accurately estimated by the nature of his conversation. Sound, truthful words have the right ring in them. The Youth's Instructor, June 13, 1895. 

Educate yourself to carry a pleasant countenance, and bring all the sweetness and melody possible into your voice. The Adventist Home, 432. 

The voice and tongue are gifts from God, and if rightly used, they are a power for God. Words mean very much. They may express love, devotion, praise, melody to God, or hatred and revenge. Words reveal the sentiments of the heart. They may be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. The tongue is a world of blessing, or a world of iniquity. SD 180.5

Some are seen to come forth from their daily communion with God clothed with the meekness of Christ. Their words are not like a desolating hail, crushing everything before it; they come forth sweetly from their lips. They scatter seeds of love and kindness all along their path, and that all unconsciously, because Christ lives in their heart. Their influence is felt more than it is seen. The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1159. 

Kind, tender, compassionate words will flow from sanctified hearts and lips. Letter 15, 1892.

Sons and Daughters of God: With Good Music That Will Be a Blessing, June 21

 We Choose to Please God in All We Do

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Psalm 100:2.

Let there be singing in the home, of songs that are sweet and pure, and there will be fewer words of censure, and more of cheerfulness and hope and joy.... As a part of religious service, singing is as much an act of worship as is prayer. Indeed, many a song is prayer. Education, 168.

I feel alarmed as I witness everywhere the frivolity of young men and young women who profess to believe the truth.... They have a keen ear for music, and Satan knows what organs to excite to animate, engross, and charm the mind, so that Christ is not desired.... Solemn responsibilities rest upon the young, which they lightly regard. The introduction of music into their homes, instead of inciting to holiness and spirituality, has been the means of diverting their minds from the truth. Frivolous songs and the popular sheet music of the day seem congenial to their taste. The instruments of music have taken time which should have been devoted to prayer. Music, when not abused, is a great blessing; but when put to a wrong use, it is a terrible curse. Testimonies For The Church 1:496, 497.

What if you have been educated and trained in the art of music, and yet have never been taught to sing the new song? What will all this training amount to, if you have not been properly trained to be members of the Lord's family, sons and daughters of God? The Youth's Instructor, August 3, 1893. 

No one who has an indwelling Saviour will dishonor Him before others by producing strains from a musical instrument which call the mind from God and Heaven to light and trifling things. Testimonies For The Church 1:510.

Music was made to serve a holy purpose, to lift the thoughts to that which is pure, noble, and elevating, and to awaken in the soul devotion and gratitude to God. Messages to Young People, 293.

As the Lord's army of workers here below sing their songs of praise, the choir above join with them in thanksgiving, ascribing praise to God and to His Son. Testimonies for the Church 7:17.