The Sowing Time, August 18

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22. {TMK 236.1} I long to address the young men and women who are so willing to reach only cheap standards. O that the Lord might influence their minds to see what perfection of character is! O that they might know the faith that works by love and purifies the soul! We are living in days of peril. Christ alone can help us and give us the victory. Christ must be all in all to us; He must dwell in the heart; His life must circulate through us, as the blood circulates through the veins. His Spirit must be a vitalizing power. {TMK 236.2} It is anything but wise, my young friends, to seek your own pleasure, to sow a crop of tares in foolish, sinful actions, which will not only lead others to do the same but will bring forth a bitter harvest for your own reaping. The Lord says: ". . . Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 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 6:7, 8). Youth is the sowing time, and the words and deeds of the early life are like seeds that will germinate and produce a harvest after their kind. Then why not sow seeds of kindness, of love, of faith, of patience, of self-denial, and true benevolence, and keep all your passions under control? Such sowing will produce a harvest after its kind. Let every word and deed be a seed that will result in good fruit. {TMK 236.3} If you seek the help and grace of God, the Holy Spirit will take possession of mind and character and work in you that which you can work out with all safety to yourself, and with all benefit to others. . . . The atmosphere that surrounds your soul will be of a pure, healthful character. {TMK 236.4} The Lord loves the youth. He sees in them great possibilities, and is ready to help them to reach a high standard if they will only realize the need of His help and lay a foundation of character that cannot be moved. {TMK 236.5}