​September 2

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently — 1 Pet. 1:22.
 
Knowledge is to be highly esteemed in the Church and is to be regarded as an evidence of progress, of growth; for none can grow strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, in grace, unless he grows also in knowledge. We properly esteem more highly those whose love for the Lord and for His Truth are evidenced by zeal in the study of His Word, and whose favor with God is evidenced by their being guided more and more into the deep things of God. Nevertheless, as in the earthly family we love and care for the babes and immature, so also in the household of faith the little ones and the dwarfs are to be cared for and loved and helped that they may grow strong in the Lord and in the power of His might—Z '03, 207 (R 3219).
 
Whenever the Truth is received through the Spirit, it is obeyed; and whenever it is obeyed, it effects a cleansing of our minds and hearts, ridding them of sin, error, selfishness and worldliness. But it does more than this: it builds up in every good thought, quality, word and deed. It incites us to remain dead to self and the world, and in remaining alive to God, to grow in knowledge, watchfulness, prayer, service, character building and endurance of evil. Especially does it fill the heart with love to God and man, and enable us to render both duty love and disinterested love to the brethren in Christ—P '26, 125.
 
Parallel passages: Acts 15:9; 2 Cor. 7:1; John 17:17; 15:3, 12, 17; Eph. 5:2; 1 Thes. 4:9; 1 John 2:9, 10; 3:11, 23; 4:21; Rom. 12:9, 10; 1 Tim. 1:5; Heb. 13:1; 1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; 4:8.

Hymns: 105, 170, 201, 165, 166, 23, 208.
Poems of Dawn, 297: The Arrow and the Song.
Tower Reading: Z '11, 57 (R 4766).

Questions: What experiences of the week exemplified the cleansing power of the Word unto duty love and disinterested love for the brethren? What were the successes or failures therein? What were the lessons learned thereby?

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THE ARROW AND THE SONG

I SHOT an arrow into the air:
It fell to earth, I know not where,
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air:
It fell to earth, I know not where,
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of a song?

Long, long after, in an oak,
I found the arrow still unbroke;
And the song from beginning to end
I found again in the heart of a friend.

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