As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:2, 3.
(WGD 168.1)
We recommend to every student the Book of books as the grandest study for human intelligence, the book that contains the knowledge essential for this life and the life to come.... The student who in his school life becomes familiar with the truths of God’s Word and feels their transforming power upon his heart, will represent the character of Christ to the world in well-ordered life and a godly conversation.—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 395.
(WGD 168.2)
As with life, so it is with growth. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” ... The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The child can not, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life,—air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him.... In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace, as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live, and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. As the flower turns to the sun ... so should we turn to the Sun of Righteousness, ... that our character may be developed into the likeness of Christ.—Steps to Christ, 67, 68.
(WGD 168.3)