The Happiest People!

Brief Bible Course for Teens and Youth.

Lesson 8. Pleasures for Evermore! 

Printable pdf: 

Audio

Memory Verse: "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy pres­ence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11.

"Is it a sin to play baseball?"

"What is wrong with tennis?"

"Is it all right to play golf?"

"Adventist youth cannot go to the movies and the theater; please give us some things we can do. Let us have some do's and not so many don'ts."

"What about cartoons or comic strips? Is there anything wrong about reading them?"

"When I was baptized my minister told me that I must give up lipstick, make-up, and jewelry, but when I came into the church I found many using these things. Is there one standard for the new convert and another for a church member?"

"Is it a sin to have fancy hairdos?" "Is it wrong to go to a circus?"

"If it is not right to wear jewelry, why do men wear neckties? Isn't the necktie only an adornment?"

These are the kind of pertinent questions many of our conscientious young people ask us everywhere, at youth's congresses, at camp meetings, during Weeks of Prayer, yes, everywhere! There seems to be no end to perplexing problems.

Adventist youth are sincere and earnest as they ask these questions. I am happy to tell you that there is a satisfactory answer to every one of them for every converted young person, and I hasten to assure you that our loving heavenly Father wants His children to be the happiest people in all the world. "These things have I spoken unto you.... that your joy might be full." John 15:11, said the Lord Jesus Himself as He explained why He wanted His disciples to keep the commandments. Never has God uttered one restriction, or fenced us about with one "Thou shalt not," but that it would add to our joy and happiness.

Through Paul, He says, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate.... and touch not the unclean thing." 2 Corinthians 6:17, but God only wants us to be separate so that He can be a Father unto us and that we can be His sons and daughters.

Through John He pleads, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," but only because "the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John 2:15-17.

Again through John, God pleads, "Come out of her, my people." Revelation 18:4, but only because He wants us not to be partakers of the plagues that are to be poured out upon Babylon.

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life," says David: "in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11. And Seventh-day Adventist young people the world around bear witness to the fact that those who find their recreation where Jesus can be present, and who find their pleasures at the right hand of God, do indeed have fullness of joy in physical and mental activities, unmarred with the sorrows of regret and remorse.

In the time of ancient Israel there were two stones, called the Urim and the Thummim, one inlaid at the right and the other at the left of the high priest's breastplate. In those days men came to inquire of the Lord, and His approval or disapproval was manifested with unerring accuracy either by a halo of glory or by a shadow in one or the other of those stones. God has long since ceased to speak with men in that way, but I believe we can build up a code of test questions by which we can tell with unerring accuracy those pleasures that are lawful and right for Christian young people to take part in, for the messenger of the Lord says: "Let us never lose sight of the fact that Jesus is a wellspring of joy. He does not delight in the misery of human beings, but loves to see them happy. Christians have many sources of happiness at their command, and they may tell with unerring accuracy what pleasures are lawful and right." Messages to Young People, p. 38.

Before developing this code of test questions, however, let us notice three classes of restrictions that God places around His children. These will help us keep the questions we shall study correctly classified.

In 1 John 3:4 we find the Bible definition of sin: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." One of the command­ments of the law says, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"; therefore, breaking the Sabbath is sin. So also are stealing, lying, and coveting. But did you ever read in the law a commandment saying, "Thou shalt not play baseball"? or a commandment saying, "Thou shalt not use make-up"?

Is it a sin, then, to play baseball? Is it a sin to use powder? Quite evidently it is not a sin. But sins are not the only things that will keep us out of heaven.

In Ephesians 5:1-6 we find a list of things that are going to keep people out of heaven. Right alongside some very definite sins we find uncleanness, filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting spoken of as things "which are not convenient." This expression "not convenient," you quickly recognize, means "not proper, not becoming, not fitting, or not suitable." It is solemnizing to realize that certain characteristics are becoming and suitable for the children of the kingdom of God, and other characteristics becoming and suitable for only the children of disobedience, upon whom is to be poured out the wrath of God.

Turning again to 1 Corinthians 10:23, we find Paul using the expression, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." A study of the context shows that Paul has a perfectly clear conscience about eating meat bought in the market place, even though the blood may have been offered to idols. But he recognizes that there are some Gentiles who have just come into the church, who still believe that the offering of the blood to idols has polluted the meat. The word "expedient" means "a means to an end." Paul's great object was to win these Gentiles to Christ, and when he found that something which was perfectly lawful for him would offend the Gentile conscience, or have a harmful influence on them, he decided never to eat such meat any more.

“Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.” 1 Corinthians 8:13.

So now there are three distinct reasons for Christians refraining from certain actions or practices: (1) Christians refrain from those things that are sinful, the breaking of the Ten Commandments. (2) Christians refrain from the kind of clothes, words, or acts that are fitting only for children of disobedience. (3) Christians refrain from some things simply because they have a harmful influence on others.

Let us now turn to the messages God has given to us young people through the Spirit of Prophecy and read a few paragraphs. First of all, let us assure ourselves that God wants His children to be happy and joyful.

"Says the wise man, 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' But do not for a moment suppose that religion will make you sad and gloomy and will block up the way to success. The religion of Christ does not obliterate or even weaken a single faculty. It in no way incapacitates you for the enjoyment of any real happiness; it is not designed to lessen your interest in life, or to make you indifferent to the claims of friends and society. It does not mantle the life in sackcloth; it is not expressed in deep­drawn sighs and groans. No, no; those who in everything make God first and last and best, are the happiest people in the world. Smiles and sunshine are not banished from their countenance." Messages to Young People, p. 38.

Christians should be the most cheerful and happy people that live. They may have the consciousness that God is their Father and their everlasting Friend.

"But many professed Christians do not correctly represent the Christian religion. They appear gloomy, as if under a cloud. They often speak of the great sacrifices they have made to become Christians. They appeal to those who have not accepted Christ, representing by their own example and conversation that they must give up everything which would make life pleasant and joyful. They throw a pall of darkness over the blessed Christian hope. The impression is given that God's requirements are a burden even to the willing soul, and that everything that would give pleasure, or that would delight the taste, must be sacrificed. We do not hesitate to say that this class of professed Christians have not the genuine article. God is love." Messages to Young People, p. 363.

Note the contrast the Spirit of Prophecy makes between recreation and amusement in the following quotations

"Young men should remember that they are account­able for all the privileges they have enjoyed, for the improvement of their time, and for the right use of their abilities. They may inquire, Shall we have no amusement or recreation? Shall we work, work, work, without variation?

"Any amusement in which you can engage asking the blessing of God upon it in faith, will not be dangerous. But any amusement which disqualifies you for secret prayer, for devotion at the altar of prayer, or for taking part in the prayer meeting, is not safe, but dangerous." Messages to Young People, p. 386.

"There is a distinction between recreation and amusement. Recreation, when true to its name, recreation, tends to strengthen and build up. Calling us aside from our ordinary cares and occupations, it affords refreshment for mind and body, and thus enables us to return with new vigor to the earnest work of life. Amusement, on the other hand, is sought for the sake of pleasure, and is often carried to excess; it absorbs the energies that are required for useful work, and thus proves a hindrance to life's true success... .

"It is the privilege and duty of Christians to seek to refresh their spirits and invigorate their bodies by innocent recreation, with the purpose of using their physical and mental powers to the glory of God. Our recreations should not be scenes of senseless mirth, taking the form of the nonsensical. We can conduct them in such a manner as will benefit and elevate those with whom we associate, and better qualify us and them to more successfully attend to the duties devolving upon us as Christians." Messages to Young People, pp. 362-364.

"The true Christian will not desire to enter any place of amusement or engage in any diversion upon which he cannot ask the blessing of God. He will not be found at the theater, the billiard hall, or the bowling saloon. He will not unite with the gay waltzers, or indulge in any other bewitching pleasure that will banish Christ from the mind.

"To those who plead for these diversions, we answer, We cannot indulge in them in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The blessing of God would not be invoked upon the hour spent at the theater or in the dance. No Christian would wish to meet death in such a place. No one would wish to be found there when Christ shall come....

"In many religious families, dancing and card-playing are made a parlor pastime. It is urged that these are quiet, home amusements, which may be safely enjoyed under the parental eye. But a love for these exciting pleasures is thus cultivated, and that which was considered harmless at home will not long be regarded dangerous abroad. It is yet to be ascertained that there is any good to be obtained from these amusements. They do not give vigor to the body nor rest to the mind. They do not implant in the soul one virtuous or holy sentiment. On the contrary, they destroy all relish for serious thought and for religious services."­ Messages to Young People, pp. 398, 399.

"'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape.'... If by associating with worldlings for pleasure, by conforming to worldly practices, by uniting our interests with unbelievers, we place our feet in the path of temptation and sin, how can we expect God to keep us from falling?

"Keep yourselves away from the corrupting influences of the world. Do not go unbidden to places where the forces of the enemy are strongly entrenched. Do not go where you will be tempted and led astray." Messages to Young People, pp. 81, 82.

"Our Saviour was deeply serious and intensely in earnest, but never gloomy and morose. The life of those who imitate Him will be full of earnest purpose; they will have a deep sense of personal responsibility. Levity will be repressed; there will be no boisterous merriment, no rude jesting; but the religion of Jesus gives peace like a river. It does not quench the light of joy; it does not restrain cheer­fulness, nor cloud the sunny, smiling face. Christ came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and when His love reigns in the heart, we shall follow His example." Steps to Christ, pp. 125, 126.

"They may enjoy such recreations as will not dissipate the mind or debase the soul, such as will not disappoint, and leave a sad after-influence to destroy self-respect or bar the way to usefulness. If they can take Jesus with them, and maintain a prayerful spirit, they are perfectly safe."­ Messages to Young People, p. 38.

I thank God for the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. How full of good plain common sense they are. The distinguishing characteristics emphasized in the foregoing paragraphs are set in parallel columns here for comparison.

Recreation

Evokes God's blessing.

Strengthens.

Builds up.

Refreshes.

Benefits.

Qualifies for Christian service.

Gives peace.

Invites Jesus' presence.

Is constructive.

Is purposeful.

 

Amusement

Disqualifies for prayer.

Absorbs energies.

Creates senseless mirth.

Banishes Christ from the mind.

Unfits us for death.

Spoils fellowship with Christ.

Excites the passions.

Destroys relish for religion.

Leads into temptation.

Invites levity, rude jesting.

Dissatisfies, debases, disap­points, and destroys.

Dear Christian young people, here is a Urim and Thummim by which we can tell with unerring accuracy which pleasures are lawful and proper, and which pleasures are not fitting and becoming for Christians. Let us see how easily it works for us. Let us take the very question at the beginning of this study: "Is it a sin to play baseball?"

Of course, there is no commandment which says, Thou shall not play baseball, so the question really means, is it fitting and proper for Christians to play baseball? We usually play baseball on the school playground or in a park or cow pasture, so let us keep this kind of game in mind as we answer these questions.

Can we ask God's blessing on such a game?

Yes, I have often done it when school has dismissed for recess.

Does such a game strengthen? Yes.

Does it refresh and benefit and elevate? Yes. Does it give peace? Yes.

Can we take Jesus with us? Yes.

Then it is all right to play this kind of baseball.

However, there are some games of baseball to which I could not say ‘yes’ to these questions. While working in northern California some years ago, I was driving to Sacramento one Friday afternoon for my week-end appointments. Just outside the city I ran into a traffic jam, and could only inch along a car length at a time. Soon I came to a standstill right beside a police officer. "What's the trouble?" I asked. "I've driven this road many times, but have never seen anything like this."

"Why," said the officer, "there's a big ball game down at the university tomorrow, and these folks are all going to the ball game."

"Where will they sleep?" I asked.

"In their cars, in the park, anywhere. They would put up with anything to see a game like that."

"Won't they be all tired and exhausted by the time the game starts?" I persisted.

"And that's not half," said the officer. "They will fortify themselves with lots of whisky, and they will get excited, and yell, and shout, and fight, and bang one another over the head with beer bottles. It's no holiday for us officers, I tell you. Every ambulance is on duty, and when it is all over there are truckloads of whisky bottles and beer bottles to be carted away."

The whistle blew, and I moved on, but I just wondered as I drove along whether I could ask God's blessing to go with me if I attended a game like that. I wondered whether that kind of game would refresh or benefit or strengthen or give peace. I wondered whether Jesus would go with me to a place like that, and I could not answer ‘yes’ to those questions.

Then I wondered how I would like to meet death at a place like that, or have Jesus find me there when He comes the second time. I wondered whether I would be walking into temptation and absorbing my energies with excitement that would dry up my relish for religion; and, young people, I knew that that kind of game would do those very things to me, and that is why I do not attend these big match games. Now, I do not want to be conscience for anyone else. I am just telling you how this Urim and Thummim works for me.

These same principles can be applied to all the ball games-cricket, tennis, or golf; and when the Spirit of Prophecy warns against some of them and mentions cricket and tennis specifically, it is not the bat and the ball that are being condemned, but the way those games are often played, and the places where those games are often played, and the spirit and the associations that are connected with them.

Take, for example, that lovely simple game of croquet. I have never heard anyone condemn it. It is a nice, quiet lawn game, which provides refreshing diversion to a group of four or six. But if I played croquet all day and half the night, so that I would be worn out and unable to attend to my studies and responsibilities the next day, to me that kind of croquet would be wrong.

Concerning the playing of ball, Sister White says: "I do not condemn the simple exercise of playing ball; but this, even in its simplicity, may be overdone. I shrink always from the almost sure result which follows in the wake of these amusements. It leads to an outlay of means that should be expended in bringing the light of truth to souls that are perishing out of Christ. The amusements and expenditures of means for self-pleasing, which lead on step by step to self-glorifying, and the educating in these games for pleasure, produce a love and passion for such things that is not favorable to the perfection of Christian character.

"The way that they have been conducted at the college does not bear the impress of heaven. It does not strengthen the intellect. It does not refine and purify the character. There are threads leading out through the habits and customs and worldly practices, and the actors become so engrossed and infatuated that they are pronounced in heaven, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. In the place of the intellect becoming strengthened to do better work as students, to be better qualified as Christians to perform the Christian duties, the exercise in these games is filling their brains with thoughts that distract the mind from their studies." Notebook Leaflets, vol. 1, no. 30, p. 1.

This principle applies to all kinds of good games also. For instance, the Review and Herald publishes a card game of Seventh-day Adventist authors. It is a fine game; it has my picture in it. But if Seventh-day Adventists played that game so long and so late that studies were neglected and the energies necessary for the next day's work were absorbed, or if they gambled money on it, then it would be wrong.

Let us take that question about the funny papers. Is it wrong to read the comics? How easy it is for me to find the answer to this question with unerring accuracy. If it is all right, then I could ask God's blessing upon it. Let me try. "Dear Father in heaven, as I read the comics this morning, help me to find something that will help me to be a better man." Say, honestly, I could not ask God's blessing on something that the devil has invented to wean hearts away from God, so I do not read the funny papers.

Let us consider that question about men's neckties! Over in the jungles of Burma I have preached many and many a sermon without a necktie, dressed in clean trousers and a sports shirt with short sleeves; but here in America I would not think of doing that. It is so easy to tell you why. There are two paragraphs in Messages to Young People that contain, to my mind, the principles that apply to all fashions, lipstick, rouge, make-up, jewelry, neckties, hairdos, and everything related to our personal appearance.

"Christians should not take pains to make themselves gazing-stocks by dressing differently from the world. But if, in accordance with their faith and duty in respect to their dressing modestly and healthfully, they find themselves out of fashion, they should not change their dress in order to be like the world. But they should manifest a noble independence and moral courage to be right, if all the world differs from them. If the world introduces a modest, convenient, and healthful mode of dress, which is in accordance with the Bible, it will not change our relation to God or to the world to adopt such a style of dress....

"The Bible teaches modesty in dress. “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel.” 1 Timothy 2:9. This forbids display in dress, gaudy colors, profuse ornamentation. Any device designed to attract attention to the wearer or to excite admiration is excluded from the modest apparel which God's word enjoins."­ Pages 350, 351.

What does it mean to be a gazingstock? I can tell you. A number of years ago I was driving home from work when I came into some very slow-moving traffic. We were not near an intersection or a red light, and I could see that the driver of the car in front of me was gazing at the side­walk. I could see right through his windshield into the next car, and that driver was gazing at the sidewalk; so I gazed at the sidewalk, and there was a woman dressed in the fashions of 1849. She had on a big hat with a large feather in it. Her dress had leg-of-mutton sleeves. Her collar came up to her ears. She had a wasp waist with a long skirt trail­ing along behind her, her face was painted like a billboard, and she actually stopped the traffic. She certainly was a gazingstock.

And, my dear young women, whether you are dressed in the most ultramodern fashions or in the fashions of a hundred years ago, if you stop the traffic, you are a gazingstock, and it is not becoming for Christians thus to draw attention to themselves. Even Emily Post adheres to the principle that to be well dressed demands that dress and adornment do not attract attention.

In God's sight, whether it is a diamond ring or some bauble from the dime store, whether it is some outlandish hat or some Babylonish garment, whether it is long skirts or short skirts, whether it is lipstick, fingernail polish, or make-up, if these things attract attention to the wearer in an attempt to excite admiration, these devices must be "excluded from the modest apparel which God's word enjoins."

And that is why I wear a necktie. When I am preaching I want my clothes and my person to be as unseen as possible, so that my message can be heard and remembered. You know full well that if I got up to preach without a necktie, no one could think of anything else but that missing necktie, and I would be attracting attention to myself and not to my message.

And thus I can put all these questions about movies, sports, theaters, videos, and computer games to this God-given Urim and Thummim, and decide with unerring accuracy just what is lawful and right for me to do; and I recommend it as a practical, workable pleasure tester to every Christian young person. It is most important that each young person be able to solve these problems for himself, for circumstances are so different in different localities and in different associations that it is impossible for one of us to be conscience for another. But we must ever be alert to the fact that Satan is working through worldly amusements to try to lead us to destruction.

"Nothing is more treacherous than the deceitfulness of sin. It is the god of this world that deludes, and blinds, and leads to destruction. Satan does not enter with his array of temptations at once. He disguises these temptations with a semblance of good. He mingles with amusements and folly some little improvements, and deceived souls make it an excuse that great good is to be derived by engaging in them. This is only the deceptive part. It is Satan's hellish arts masked. Beguiled souls take one step, then are prepared for the next. It is so much more pleasant to follow the inclinations of their own hearts than to stand on the defensive, and resist the first insinuation of the wily foe, and thus shut out his incomings.

"Oh, how Satan watches to see his bait taken so readily, and to see souls walking in the very path he has prepared! He does not want them to give up praying and maintaining a form of religious duties; for he can thus make them more useful in his service. He unites his sophistry and deceptive snares with their experiences and professions, and thus wonderfully advances his cause." Messages to Young People, p. 83.

"The desire for excitement and pleasing entertainment is a temptation and a snare to God's people, and especially to the young. Satan is constantly preparing inducements to attract minds from the solemn work of preparation for scenes just in the future. Through the agency of worldlings he keeps up a continual excitement to induce the unwary to join in worldly pleasures. There are shows, lectures, and an endless variety of entertainments that are calculated to lead to a love of the world; and through this union with the world faith is weakened.

"Satan is a persevering workman, an artful, deadly foe. ... He is in every sense of the word a deceiver, a skilful charmer. He has many finely woven nets, which appear innocent, but which are skilfully prepared to entangle the young and unwary. The natural mind leans toward pleasure and self-gratification. It is Satan's policy to fill the mind with a desire for worldly amusement, that there may be no time for the question, How is it with my soul?" Messages to Young People, p. 373.

In 1 Peter 5:8 we read, "Be sober, be vigilant; be­cause your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I do not know much about roaring lions, but for twenty years I lived in a land where we had roaring tigers, and I know how roaring tigers seek whom they may devour.

One day our Burma brass band planned a meeting in a village eighteen miles from our mission station. We planned our journey so that we could arrive at the village about an hour before sunset. This would give us time to visit the sick and to put up our screen for the pictures on the life of Christ. All went well, and in the cool of the evening we were approaching the village when suddenly on the hills to my right we heard an animal call. "Squ-e-e-e-ak!"

It was a high reedy note, and I said, "Boys, listen! There's a sambar over there."

"Squ-e-e-e-ak!" came the sound again, but the boys shook their heads and said, "That's not a sambar, Thara; that's a tiger."

A sambar belongs to the deer family. It is about as big as a large calf; it has four-pointed horns and fur about six inches up on the butt of the horns. When it calls it has a high, reedy squeak, just like the sound we had heard; so I said, "But boys, boys, tigers don't go squ-e-e-e-ak; tigers go roar-r-r-r-r-r."

But the boys answered, "Not always, Thara; it all depends what animal the tiger is hunting. He makes a sound just like the animal he is trying to catch. A tiger can bark like a dog, mew like a cat, hiss like a snake, cackle like a hen, crow like a rooster, or squeak like a sambar."

Just then we heard another "Squ-e-e-e-ak" on the hills to our left. I said, "Listen, boys! There's another tiger."

The boys listened, then whispered, "No, Thara, that's not a tiger; that's a sambar."

"But I can't tell the difference," I replied.

"Neither can the sambar tell the difference," the boys said, "but we can. We have lived in this jungle, and our fathers have taught us the difference. The tiger's call is a little more throaty. Listen!"

We sat down, and for the next few minutes I listened to one of the commonest tragedies of jungle life.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," called the wicked old, crafty old, deceit­ful old tiger from the hills on the right.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," answered the sweet little, dear little, innocent little sambar from the hills on the left.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," answered the tiger, and ran a little closer.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," answered the sambar, and, thinking that its mate was calling for an evening frolic, ran a little nearer.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," called the tiger.

"Squ-e-e-e-ak," answered the sambar, and ran a little closer--a little closer and a little closer, till to us it seemed that the call and the answer came from the identical spot in the forest just ahead of us.

Then, when the deceitful old tiger was within spring­ing distance, it opened its mouth and roar-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-ed.

Within a few hundred yards the roar of a tiger is so painful and penetrating that one is forced to cover his ears with his hands, and animals within that distance are paralyzed with fear and terror. Powerless to move another step, the sambar stood there trembling while the tiger sprang and buried his teeth in the sambar's neck; and throwing his body against the head of his victim, the tiger broke its neck. And that was the end of the innocent little sambar.

When I was a little boy just five years old I went downtown window-shopping with my father one night. Before long we came to a shop advertising deviled ham. And in the window was a mechanized devil. I can re­member it yet. It had two horns and big long ears that worked forward and backward by machinery. Keeping time with its ears, its eyes went crisscross, crisscross, and its big red tongue poked out, in and out. In its hand was a pitchfork, and it had a big, long tail with a spear point on it. Both hand and tail moved threateningly, in time with the ears, front, back, front, back. It was complete with hoofs and a fiery red body. Struck with terror, I clutched my father's hand, and said, "Father, what's that?"

"That's supposed to be the devil, my son," replied my father, and I have never forgotten it. Oh, I wish that when the devil goes around seeking whom he may devour he would always put on his hoofs, his horns, and his fiery red coat. I wish he would always carry his pitchfork with him. Then we could so easily recognize him that we would run for our lives, and he never would catch us.

But the devil does not go around seeking whom he may devour like that. He dresses up in the smartest clothes, he wears the latest fashions, he rides around in the newest cars, he paints and powders, and he tries to tell you he is your friend. He gets into the latest books and video games, he appears in the comics, he comes over radio and television, he gets onto the billboards, and he tries to tell you that there can be no life without him. He mingles with amusements and folly and exciting pleasures, skillfully weaving his nets and setting his traps.

How he gloats when the first step is taken in his direction! It may be ever so small a step; but he preseveres, enticing, alluring, blinding, deluding, until it is too late. Then he laughs at our terror and mocks at our bitter regrets and remorse.

May God open our eyes to detect the cunning of the archdeceiver in the amusements of the world, and help us to find our pleasures only where we can take Jesus with us, for only in His presence is fullness of joy and only at His "right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Whatever you think in weal or in woe,
Think nothing you would not want Jesus to know.
Whenever you speak in a whisper, or clear,
Speak nothing you would not want Jesus to hear.

Whatever you read, though the page may allure,
Read nothing, unless you are perfectly sure
Consternation would not be seen in your look
If Jesus said solemnly, "Show me that book."

 Whatever you sing in the midst of your glees,
Sing nothing Christ's listening ear would displease.
Whatever you write in haste or in heed,
Write nothing you would not want Jesus to read.

Whatever you do in work or in play,
Do nothing you'll think of in sorrow some day.
Wherever you go, never go where you’d fear
To have Jesus ask you, "What doest thou here?" Selected.

Happiness TOC

HOME