Lesson #11 Plants and Cornerstones

Have you ever thought how barren this world would be if there were no plants or trees? Think how much brighter life has been made by the fragrance of the rose, the stately dignity of the lily, the rich beauty of the tulip. What rest and repose there is amidst the huge trees of the Sequoia National Park! What strength is to be gleaned from the forest aisles of our own Missouri Ozarks! Science has discovered in recent times that the most restful color is green. Hospitals often have their walls finished in this color. So do railroad stations and other waiting-rooms. And of all the colors God has lavished upon the earth, green predominates. It is the color of living plants which would be so sadly missed if the vegetable kingdom were to be suddenly taken from us.

It was my lot to ride across a desert recently. We traveled through lonely stretches of brown, and gray, and distant purple all day. There is a majestic lonesomeness about such boundless areas stretching to the horizon in unbroken awe. And how wel­come is the sight of an occasional little oasis looming out of the awesome distance. One knows how the real desert traveler must feel as he beholds the swaying palms bending above blue water.

But I want to change the subject temporarily. Have you ever watched the laying of a cornerstone? Im sure that you have at least seen pictures of such an event. Recently I beheld a large crowd gathered about a piece of construction work. I edged my way into the group to see what might be the center of attraction. When I was close enough, I beheld a man with a trowel, daubing mortar upon a well-prepared foundation. Then a large revolving crane picked up a polished cornerstone and swung the beautiful piece of marble into place. There was something graceful about the stone, and its beauty was noticeable and noteworthy. One felt that surely this would be an imposing structure which would have such a stone as the connecting link.

And that introduces my subject for today. I want to read for you from Psalm 144, verse 12, "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner­stones, polished after the similitude of a palace. This passage is written in all of the glorious imagery of Oriental expression. It utters a prayer that the children of Gods parents may be an ornament to the nation. And I am sincerely hoping that our homes of today may produce the same kind of young people.

Homes dedicated to God are to bring forth sons as "plants grown up in their youth, that is, young men who have developed courage, stability and vigor, and who will decorate the country with their nobility of character even as the stately trees do the countryside. They are to produce daughters as cornerstones, beautiful and also useful. Just as cornerstones attract attention to the building which they support, so our children should be living examples of the greatness of the Christian life.

What things are necessary to develop such characters in our offspring? I offer first of all the thought that discipline is one of the greatest essentials. It has been said that soft-hearted mothers rear soft-headed children. So many are afraid of hurting their children when they are young that they hurt them for their entire lives. After all, children need to know the nature of restraint. They must come to respect authority. One of the signs of apos­tasy in the last days is disobedience to parents (2 Timothy 3: 2). In Romans 1: 3O this is catalogued with a number of other terrible sins. And the chapter concludes by saying, Who knoweth the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Will this not include the parents, who, with a mis­taken sense of humo Colossians 3: 21, in which we find him saying, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” There is nothing which lends greater strength than the thought that one can accomplish an assigned task. Neither is there anything more discouraging than the thought of battering away at a task which you know is impossible of success. It was once the case in school that children were sort of lumped together and it was expected that each one would come out with the same ability as every other. Now we know that children differ in their natural talents and capabilities, and they cannot all be poured into one intellectual mold and come out exactly alike, insofar as technical knowledge or skill is concerned. Many children have become discouraged because a brighter pupil was held up before them, and they were ridiculed because they could not meet the standard of that pupil.

We find many parents today who are fearful of their ability when it comes to rearing a family in the way of the Lord. There has been so much emphasis on child psychology that some feel they must be graduate psychiatrists before they can rear their little ones. Now, I am a believer in practical psychology, and I would not underrate its benefits for a minute. But I want to tell you that all of the psychology in the world cannot take the place of a little old-fashioned mother love. After all, when children are away from home in later years, they do not think of the psychology which you employed, but they think of the little things you said and did as a mother or father, which made home a happy place in which to live.

We need sons today who are strong plants; we need daughters who are as cornerstones, holding up the great citadel of truth. But children of that kind are only produced in homes that are dedicated to the Lord and His Word. For that reason we ask you to give attention to His truth and bring your family up to reverence their Creator. According to the Bible, a virtuous woman is one “who looketh well to the ways of her own household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. . . . Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31: 27-3O). That is true, and as the French conqueror said of France, I say of this nation, “Let America have good mothers, and she will have good sons.”

Lesson #12: "The Old Folks at Home" will follow in the next mailing.

"Lessons From Yesterday" is compiled by Dwain R. Stoops

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