WHERE DO YOU PASTURE?
By WARREN N.
There was a great deal of sput-
tering and gagging among the stu-
dents of one of our colleges at break-
fast time several years ago. We had
an excellent matron and efficient
cooks and bakers. None of the kitchen
workers and failed in their work, but
still the complaints that morning were
many and vociferous.
. What was wrong? Well, it all cen-
tered in the milk. It had a nasty
taste and smell. Could it be that this
milk was from our prize, registered
thoroughbred cows? The boys who
worked at the dairy. were proud of
their work and their herd. They knew
each cow affectionately and had care-
fully named each one.
What, then, was wrong with the
milk? The word soon got around that
some of the cows had broken through
a fence and had gotten out of their
“pasture into a field of weeds — bit-
ter, foul-smelling weeds. And as any
farmer knows, a cow’s milk is made
up of what she eats.
. Did you know that this principle
is clearly stated in the Bible? “Ac-
cording to their pasture, so were they
filled; they were filled, and their heart
was exalted; therefore have they for-
gotten me” (Hosea 13:6). But this
text is not talking about cows. It
is talking about human beings, the
professed children of God who had
wandered into strange pastures.
' No doubt all of us at times won-
der why some people go the wrong
way and some go the right way in
choosing the pathway of life. Some-
times it seems that the young person
with all the advantages chooses the
wrong path. Then it seems that many,
like Abe Lincoln, with little of this
world’s goods and little formal edu-
cation, become great and noble char-
acters.
© Is there any explanation? Is there
a natural law involved that works
6
WITTENBERG
from cause to effect? Is there a pat-
tern that you or I can follow that
will make us sure of success in the
sight of God?
The answer is Yes. You can be
sure. In Messages to Young People,
pages 114 and 115, we read:
“If we would develop-a character
which God can accept, we must form
correct habits in our religious life.
Daily prayer is as essential to growth
in grace, and even to spiritual life
itself, as is temporal food to physi-
. cal well-being. We should accustom
ourselves to often lift the thoughts to
God in prayer. If the mind ‘wanders,
we must bring. it back; by persever-
ing effort, habit will finally make it
easy.”
In the same book we read:
“Satan knows that to a great de-
gree the mind is affected by that
upon which it feeds. He is seeking
to lead both the youth and those of
mature age to read story-books, tales,
and other literature. The readers of
such literature become unfitted for
the duties lying before them. They
live an unreal life, and have no desire
to search the Scriptures, to feed upon
the heavenly manna. The mind that
needs strengthening is enfeebled, and
loses its power to study the great
truths that relate to the mission and
work of Christ, - truths that would
fortify the mind, awaken the imagi-
nation, and kindle a strong, earnest
desire to overcome as Christ over-
came.” —pages 271, 272.
Youth whose actions are distaste-
ful to God are often those who have
broken through God's fences and
have gone into the devil's pasture.
Perhaps they have fed upon the
weeds of sinful motion pictures, or
have filled their minds with the
wrong television programs, or have
read books and magazines and so-
called comic strips that becloud and
contaminate the thinking.
Feeding on Truth
But.young people, we can be sure
of having clean minds and pure
thoughts if we will feed upon the
pasture of nature study, the Bible,
the Spirit of prophecy, and the hun-
dreds of good books and magazines
published today.
“The nature of one’s religious ex-
perience is revealed by the character
of the books one chooses to read in
one’s leisure moments. In order to
have a healthy tone of mind and
sound religious principles, the youth
must live in communion: with God
through His werd: Pointing out the
way of salvation through Crist, the
Bible is our guide to a higher, better
life. It contains the most interestin~
and the most instructive history and
biography that were ever written.
Those whose imagination has not be-
come’ perverted by the reading of
fiction will find the Bible the most in-
teresting of books.
“The Bible is the Book of books.
If you love the word of God, search-
ing :it as you have opportunity, tbat
you may come into possession of its
rich treasures, and ‘be thoroughly
furnished unto all good works, then
vou may be assured that Jesus is
drawing you to Himself. But to read
the Scriptures in a casual way, with-
out seeking to comprehend Christ's
lesson that you may comply with
His requirements, is not enough
There are treasures in the word of
God that can be discovered only by
sinking the shaft deep into the mind
of truth.” ~Ibid. p.- 274.
"In the second chapter of Proverbs
there is positive assurances that you
will “understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God” ‘if
you apply your. héart to seek under:
Sy (Prov. 2:2-5). God’ s counsel
. “Desire the sincere milk of the
word, “that ye ‘may grow thereby”
(I Peter 2:2). It always tastes. good!
—Review and Herald.
MESSENGER