My tongue will sing of your righteousness. Psalm 51:14, N.I.V.

Instruction in singing is greatly needed in every school. Much more interest should be manifested…. Students who have learned to sing, with melodious voices, sweet gospel songs in such a way that the words are easily understood can do much good as singing evangelists. They will find many opportunities to use the talent that God has given them, carrying melody and sunshine into many lonely places darkened by sin and sorrow and affliction, by singing to those who seldom have the privileges of any kind of gospel ministry.

Go out into the highways and the hedges. Endeavor to reach the higher as well as the lower classes. Enter the homes of the rich and the poor. As you go from house to house to sing, ask, “Would you be pleased to have us sing? We should be glad to hold a song service with you, and to offer a few words of prayer to ask God to keep us.” Not many will refuse you entrance—Manuscript 67, 1903.

A spirit of devotion was cherished in the schools of the prophets…. Students … were taught how to pray, how to approach their Creator, how to exercise faith in Him, and how to understand and obey the teachings of His Spirit. Sanctified intellects brought forth from the treasure house of God things new and old, and the Spirit of God was manifested in prophecy and sacred song.

Music was made to serve a holy purpose, to lift the thoughts to that which is pure, noble, and elevating, and to awaken in the soul devotion and gratitude to God. What a contrast between the ancient custom and the uses to which music is now too often devoted! How many employ this gift to exalt self, instead of using it to glorify God! A love for music leads the unwary to unite with world lovers in pleasure gatherings where God has forbidden His children to go. Thus that which is a great blessing when rightly used, becomes one of the most successful agencies by which Satan allures the mind from duty and from the contemplation of eternal things.

Music forms a part of God’s worship in the courts above, and we should endeavor, in our songs of praise, to approach as nearly as possible to the harmony of the heavenly choirs. The proper training of the voice is an important feature in education, and should not be neglected. Singing, as a part of religious service, is as much an act of worship as is prayer.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 594.

From Reflecting Christ

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. Matthew 4:16.

There are many now in the shadow of death who need to be instructed in the truths of the gospel. Nearly the whole world is lying in wickedness. To every believer in Christ words of hope have been given for those who sit in darkness….

Earnest, devoted young people are needed to enter the work as nurses…. The Lord wants wise men and women, who can act in the capacity of nurses, to comfort and help the sick and suffering. O that all who are afflicted might be ministered to by Christian physicians and nurses who could help them to place their weary, pain-racked bodies in the care of the Great Healer, in faith looking to him for restoration! If through judicious ministration the patient is led to give his soul to Christ and to bring his thoughts into obedience to the will of God, a great victory is gained.

In our daily ministrations we see many careworn, sorrowful faces. What does the sorrow on these faces show? It shows the need of the soul for the peace of Christ. Men and women, longing for something they have not, have sought to supply their want at earth’s broken cisterns. Let these hear a voice saying, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” Weary souls, seeking you know not what, come to the water of life. All heaven is yearning over you. “Come to me, that ye might have life.”

There are many lines of work to be carried forward by the missionary nurse. There are opportunities for well-trained nurses to go into homes and there endeavor to awaken an interest in the truth. In almost every community there are large numbers who will not listen to the teaching of God’s Word or attend any religious service. If these are reached by the gospel, it must be carried to their homes. Often the relief of their physical needs is the only avenue by which they can be approached.

Missionary nurses who care for the sick and relieve the distress of the poor will find many opportunities to pray with them, to read to them from God’s Word, and to speak of the Saviour. They can pray with and for the helpless ones who have not strength of will to control the appetites that passion has degraded. They can bring a ray of hope into the lives of the defeated and disheartened. The revelation of unselfish love, manifested in acts of disinterested kindness, will make it easier for these suffering ones to believe in the love of Christ.—The Review and Herald, December 24, 1914.

From Reflecting Christ

I am among you as he that serveth. Luke 22:27.

Canvassing for our publications is an important and most profitable line of evangelistic work. Our publications can go to places where meetings cannot be held. In such places the faithful evangelistic canvasser takes the place of the living preacher….

May the Lord move upon many of our young men and women to enter the canvassing field as canvassing evangelists. By the canvassing work the truth is presented to thousands that otherwise would not hear it. Our time for work is short. Many, very many, need the promptitude of the “quickly” in them, to lead them to arouse and go to work. The Lord calls for workers just now….

Why is there not now more diligent seeking of the Lord, that hundreds may be filled with the Holy Spirit, and may go forth quickly to proclaim the truth, “the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following”? Our commission is to let the light shine forth everywhere from the press. By the printed page the light reaches the isolated ones, who have no opportunity to hear the living preachers. This is most blessed missionary work. Canvassers can be the Lord’s helping hand, opening doors for the entrance of the truth.

Let Christian youth be selected to handle the books containing present truth…. This is a sacred work, and those who enter it should be able to bear witness for Christ.

Those youth who go into this work should be connected with those older in experience, who, if they are devoted to God, can be a great blessing to them, teaching them in the things of God, and showing them how best to work for Him. If the youth will work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, they will know by experience that God is working with them, to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Not only men, but women, can enter the canvassing field. And canvassers are to go out two by two. This is the Lord’s plan.

I am instructed to encourage decided efforts to secure helping hands to do missionary work, to give Bible instruction and to sell books containing present truth. Thus skillful work may be done in hunting for souls. Young men, your help is called for. Make a covenant with God by sacrifice. Take hold of His work. He is your sufficiency. “Be strong, yea, be strong.”—Pacific Union Recorder, October 23, 1902.

From Reflecting Christ

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27.

What is pure religion? Christ has told us that pure religion is the exercise of pity, sympathy, and love in the home, in the church, and in the world. This is the kind of religion to teach to the children, and is the genuine article. Teach them that they are not to center their thoughts upon themselves, but that wherever there is human need and suffering, there is a field for missionary work….

There are many who ask, as did the lawyer, “Who is my neighbor?” The answer comes down to us in the circumstances that happened near Jericho, when the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side, and left the poor, bruised, and wounded stranger to be taken care of by the good Samaritan. Everyone who is in suffering need is our neighbor. Every straying son and daughter of Adam, who has been ensnared by the enemy of souls, and bound in the slavery of wrong habits that blight the God-given manhood or womanhood, is my neighbor….

Would that children might be educated from their babyhood, through their childhood and youth, to understand what is the missionary work to be done right around them. Let the home be made a place for religious instruction. Let parents become mouthpieces of the Lord God of Israel, to teach the precepts of true Christianity, and let them be examples of what the principles of love can make men and women.

We are to think and care for others who need our love, our tenderness, and care. We should ever remember that we are representatives of Christ, and that we are to share the blessings that He gives, not with those who can recompense us again, but with those who will appreciate the gifts that will supply their temporal and spiritual necessities. Those who give feasts for the purpose of helping those who have but little pleasure, for the purpose of bringing brightness into their dreary lives, for the purpose of relieving their poverty and distress, are acting unselfishly and in harmony with the instruction of Christ.—The Review and Herald, November 12, 1895.

Good deeds are the fruit that Christ requires us to bear: kind words, deeds of benevolence, of tender regard for the poor, the needy, the afflicted. When hearts sympathize with hearts burdened with discouragement and grief, when the hand dispenses to the needy, when the naked are clothed, the stranger made welcome to a seat in your parlor and a place in your heart, angels are coming very near, and an answering strain is responded to in heaven.—Testimonies for the Church 2:25.

From Reflecting Christ

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Psalm 71:17.

There is a great work to be done in the Master’s vineyard. To accomplish this work, God calls for men to whom He has given ability for service. He does nothing without man’s cooperation.

Whenever the Lord has a work to be done, He calls not only the commanding officers, but all the workers. He calls young men and women who are strong and active in mind. He desires them to bring into the work their fresh, healthy powers of brain, bone, and muscle. They are to take part in the conflict against principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Men have nothing but that which God has given them in trust. They are not to indulge pride or to boast of their talents. They owe to God all that makes it possible for them to labor for Him. Yet every man has a part to act in preparing himself for service. By earnest study, taxing effort, he is to cultivate all his powers. Then divine power will surely combine with his efforts.

Some young men are urging their way into the work who have no real fitness for it. They do not understand that they need to be taught before they can teach. They point to men who with little preparation have labored with a measure of success. But if these men have been successful, it is because they put their heart and soul into the work…. The cause of God needs efficient men….

Redemption, what is it? It is the training process for heaven. This training means more than a knowledge of books. It means a knowledge of Christ, emancipation from ideas, habits, and practices that have been gained in the school of the prince of darkness. The soul must be delivered from all that is opposed to loyalty to God. Resistance of evil must be encouraged….

God gives all an opportunity in this life to develop character. All may fill their appointed place in His great plan. The Lord accepted Samuel from his very childhood, because his heart was pure, and he had reverence for God. He was given to God, a consecrated offering, and the Lord made him, even in his childhood, a channel of light.

A life consecrated as was Samuel’s is of great value in God’s sight. If the youth of today will consecrate themselves as did Samuel, the Lord will accept them and use them in His work. Of their life they may be able to say with the psalmist, “O Lord, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.”—Manuscript 51, 1900.

From Reflecting Christ