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And
do not make a fuss or speak a single grumbling word
That
is discipline.
When
everything seems going wrong and yet I
will
not grouse,
When
it is hot, and I am tired and yet I will not
grouse,
But
sing a song and do my work in school and in the house,
That
is discipline.
When
Satan whispers, "Scamp your work," to say
to
him, "I won't,"
When
Satan whispers, "Slack a bit," to say to him,
"I
won't,"
To
rule myself and now to wait for others' do and
don't,
That
is discipline.
When
I look up and triumph over every sinful
thing,
The
things that no one knows about, the cowardly,
selfish
thing,
And
when with heart and will I live to please my glorious King,
That
is discipline.
To
trample on that curious thing inside me that
says
To
think of others always, never, never of that "I'll To learn to live according
to my Saviour's word,
"Deny,"
That
is discipline.
David
once prayed regarding his enemies, ever-present and lively, "Slay them
not, lest my people forget." It is said that the Spartans refused to allow
the destruction of a neighboring city which had often called forth their
armies, saying, "Destroy not the whetstone of our young men." All the difficulties
of life are to teach us discipline.
But
what shall we say about the lack of church discipline? Trace ' this
lack to its root and it will be found in the soft Christians who refuse
to separate themselves from the unholy, who refuse to stand out against
sin, who refuse to uncover sin in others--all in spite of God's, "Neither
shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou
conceal."
We
never cease to thank God for the homes where the parents recognize the
perils and pitfalls and flabbiness of this soft age. With each recurring
school year we meet up with such, who pray and sacrifice
and send their young people to the Prairie Bible Institute for training.
They want to see their young people become soldiers of the Cross.
They want them delivered from the dilettantisms of modern schools and education.
Such homes rise up before us as we write. From such homes have gone
forth in this very generation soldiers of the Cross who are girt, ready,
sacrificial, sacrificing all, becoming old early in life, but winning for
the Lamb the reward of His sufferings.
We wonder whether the father
of Dr. J. Hudson Taylor had the least conception of what his son would
accomplish under God. The founder of the China In-land Mission came
to know the value of a disciplined life and leadership. He was himself
brought up under such a leadership. His father was a great disciplinarian.
From the Growth of a Soul we quote the following regarding his father:
Though stern and even
quick-tempered at times, the influence James Taylor exerted in the life
of his son can hardly be overestimated. He was decidedly a disciplinarian.
But without some such clement in his |
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