Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1871-01-11
RELIGIOUS READING.
How Much Owest TbOU !?

|
1t is never wise to allow busi.
ness to go on from year to year
without a reckoning-it leads
to bankruptcy. Our accounts
with heaven should be often
reckoned up, iii anticipation of
the final settlement when we
shall stand before the great
white throne. We often use
words without feeling their le:
gitimate force. How often do
we use the little word Sought"
[ ought to have done it He
ought not to have done 80 /;
We have done those things
which we ought not to have
done, and we have left undone
those things which we ought to-
have done. But few pause to-
consider that this little word
was originally the preterit
of the verb to owe, and that
oughtness is simply indebted:
ness-what we owe, and are
bound to pay, if we would
stand among honest men! We
are not over scrupulous about
flinging such words as rogue,
rascal, villain, at such as owe
us and will not pay. Have q.
care lest the the Judge should
say at last: Out of thine own
mouth will l condemn thee,
thou wicked and slothful SER
want.
Reader, How much owest
thou unto the Lord? Paul
said: | am debtor both to the
Greeks and to the Barbarians
both to the wise and to the un-
wise. So, as much as in me is,
| am ready to preach the Cos.
pei to you that are at Rome
also. (Rom. i. II, 15.) How
did Paul become their debtor?
Had he received any thing
from them? Yes: insults, SLAM
ders, stripes, imprisonments!
How, then, was he their debt
or? Not on account of what
he had received from them, but
in spite of it. How can this
be? If he had received moth.
ing from them to create an obli-
CATION, he must have received
something in their behalf from
some other source. That is it.
He had received treasures OF
grace and apostleship, from the
Lord Jesus Christ, in trust for
the benefit of the Gentiles.
He was but n steward of these
manifold treasures. He owed
them to those in whose behalf
they were given.
Very well. We understand
E this about Paul. Perhaps it
would interest us to attempt to
settle his account. But that is
impossible. There is more
practical and more important
f work for us. How much owest
, thou unto the Lord2 Are we
not all stewards? Have we
any thing that we did not re-
ceive? And are we not all
!. debtors? How shall we pay
T. our debts? Shall we pay al
g much as in us is, of brain
e heart, purse, tongue, musclei
il How much owest thou ther
o out of that estate of two hun
c dred and fifty thousand dollar.
r out of that income of ten
d twenty, thirty thousand-out
j. of that active brain, that col.
/. lege education-out of that eff
|, of song, of prayer, of speech, O
O pen-out of that social position
$ in which God has placed thee
4 out of that strong body
d gifted fol toil-out of tha
e humble position, in which it il
if given to suffer and be strong
l. out of those leisure hours tha'
y hang all too heavily on thy
d hands--out of even thy power
9. ty and thy tribulation? Ha
d it been paid? Will any gene
k raj confession of sin avail thee
e while these accounts remain
is unsettled? How much owes
S. thou to the poor, the ignorant
h the sinful, the outcast? Cans
II thou say: AS much as in me is
a 1 have fed and sclothed ant
if blessed the bodies and souls o
% my needy fellow creaturesi
d Look over the books-mak,
l. out a balance.shee wipe ou