“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Eccl. 12:1.

This great wonder-ball of earth and water and rocks upon which we live, and which is carpeted with green, and so full of life, was not always here. We have learned that long ago, on the first day, the God of heaven made the heavens and the earth by His word. He just spoke and they were. “And God said, Let there be light and there was light.” On the second day, He spoke, and the firmament with its air and clouds and blue sky was made. On the third day, God said, Let the waters be gathered together, and let the dry land appear, and let the earth bring forth grass, and herbs, and trees; “and it was so.” On the fourth day, He set the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament and made them His light-bearers for the earth. On the fifth day, at His word, the air swarmed with merry birds, and the waters with creatures both great and small. On the sixth day, He formed all beasts and cattle and creeping things. How beautiful, how glorious the earth must have looked! For “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.”

But what is home without a father or mother and the friends we hold so dear? The house may be a palace, the carpets velvet, the mirrors set in gold, and the gardens full of flowers and pots, but if that is all, how empty it seems! It needs someone who can think and use it and feel grateful for all of these things. So with the newly created earth on the sixth day. It was a home more beautiful than words can tell, but it lacked one thing yet,—some one to live in the home who could enjoy it and understand its worth, and who could praise and glorify the bountiful Giver. That is just why God made the earth. He says that He created it not in vain, He formed it to be lived upon by good people. Isa. 45:18.

Therefore “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion [or become king] over, the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen. 1:26. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;” and man lived. And that is the reason that we live, for when God first created that first man He made it possible for us to live; and He gives us our breath and strength every day. He is therefore our Father and Creator as well as his, and we read in the Bible, “It is He [God] that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” Ps. 100:3.

On the sixth day, when God first created man, he, like all the other things that God had made, was good. He was taller, stronger, more beautiful, and better in every way, than men now are. The glow of perfect health was on his cheek, and the joys of perfect life in his heart. We shall learn in another lesson how it is man’s own fault that the earth now is full of sickness and sorrow, wickedness and death.

Man was the noblest and the best of all the creatures that God had made. Even now, although so cursed by sin, we see many things for which to thank and praise God. The more you study about the wonderful thinking machine and telegraph office in your head, about the little chords, called nerves, running to all parts of your body like telegraph wires; the more you learn about the music box in your throat, the mill for grinding in your mouth, and the pump that forces blood through all your body; the more you stop to think that God made these wonderfully jointed bones, that perfectly fitting skin and useful tongue, those well protected eyes and ears, and those helpful hands and nimble feet; the more you notice and think about these things the more you will feel like saying, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Ps. 139:14.

Do not think that you must wait till you are grown to love and praise God for all His goodness. It may be too late then; do it now! Think about Him and His works every day, and love and try to please Him. This is what He says to you in Eccl. 12:1: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”

1. Of all the balls that you ever saw, which is the largest and most wonderful?
2. Who made this great earth-ball upon which we live?
3. Out of what did He make it?
4. What covered it at first?
5. How do you think it looked when man first saw it?
6. For whom had God prepared this beautiful home? Why?
7. On what day was man, the noblest and best of all the creatures, made? Gen. 1:26-31.
8. Out of what did God form him? And how did He make him live? Gen. 2:7.
9. Who only has this power to make things live?
10. Name some of the ways in which man is better than other creatures that live upon the earth.
11. Since God has made us to know more than the beasts, what does He expect us to do?—To act as though we knew more. If He had wanted us to act like beasts He would have made us beasts.
12. When boys and girls need to be either driven, or tied up and held back, or watched all the time, to keep them from going and doing wrong, and when they kick and bite, are stubborn, and run away, like what beasts are they acting?
13. What does God say about this? Ps. 32:9.
14. Although man knows so much more than the beasts, what does he know when compared with God? Isa. 55:9.
15. Who gave us our minds and all our skill and wisdom? Who gives us strength to do everything that we do?
16. Then instead of being proud and praising ourselves when we do anything, whom should we praise?
17. Do you need to wait till you grow up to love and praise your Creator?
18. What does He say that you should do now? Eccl. 12:1.
19. Why does He want you to do it now while you are young?
20. Was man at first just as he is now?
21. Whose fault is it that the earth is now full of sickness and sorrow, wickedness and death?
22. When God placed men upon the earth over what did He tell him to be the ruler or king? Gen. 1:28.

 

“Health”

Observe the different ways in which you can move your head. What a wonderfully jointed hinge connects it with the rest of the body!

Are you acquainted with the workings of the wonderful music box in your throat?

What are your muscles good for?

What harm is there in wearing tight clothing?

What command do we find in 1 Cor. 10:31?

The Present Truth – January 25, 1894
E. J. Waggoner

Story in pdf   Man