Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-11
WHOLE NUMBER 1888

bis back up0u alcohol and becomes con.
slant abstainer. lie may or may not take
the step under the influence Of emotion.
The question Of facthlone Is whether he
really gives up the bad.
Exactly so with the Christian life. There
are two roads call them what we may;
right or leff, good or evil heaven or hell.
u makes no difference with the fact. There
are but two possible paths for the human
soul 70 choose between, and it can contem.
poraneously travel but one. Herein comes
Christs criterion. What is your motive
in lifey Apply this test. Am living for
self, or for what good ] can do I'm the
worldr There is no evasion In our secret
answer TO this question. Serve Won This
day God or MammonY Conscience will
answer like flash Of lghtning-and we
know il.
The young lawyer came TO Christ say.
ing, "What shall / doY Did the Master
inquire about his feelings or 'experienoes'
Not a syllable Of theology blunted that
divinely-pointed command: "Sell all .bou
hast, and distribute unto the Door" II
struck straight al the mans motive In life
While outwardly all that the moral law
required he was secretly serving Nam.
mon. The result verified Chrisrs diapno-
sis, since he went away sorrowful. What
Give up wealth! Wealth means position.
power, admiration, and above all else, cul-
ture.
Are we then required to sacrifice these
the climacteric advantages Of citilizationY
Yes, and no. Yes, II we are living for
any Of them; II our motive is self aggrand.
cement. No, II we are using opportuni.
~, influence, intellect, for the advance
ment OF Gods kingdom on earth. Sup
pose a scholar had come 10 Christ with the
lawyers query, think you he would have
been told to give up his books and all in
tellectual pursuits! Certainly not, unless
he was lying for culture-fOr the pride Of
intellect. The question at the last great
day will be, Il gave thee ten talents, now
Tor the accounting" Suppose the soul
thus confronted says: Il have written
many learned volumes" They are pro-
duced. The thoughts are beautiful. the
sentences eXquisitely rounded. But, alasl
from between the lines there flashes the
fact that all was written for a selfish pur-
pose-fOr the worship paid authorship.
But the good they have incidentally ac-
complished is pleaded in extenuation.
Alas, soul, what now is that to thee. You
lived for self, your thoughts we're OF self.
you wrote for self; there, to the left, is
selfs eternity.
In the light OF so crucial test who,
then, can be saved?
In this as in all Of Gods dealings the
promise is as broad as the curse. "Who-
ever shall give to drink unto one Of these
little ones a cup Of cold water only, in the
name Of a disciple, verify, ! say unto you,
be shall in no wise lose his reward"
What! Heaven for a cup Of water and
Gehenna for its refusal Even so; and
why? Because there is all the difference
between good and bad, love and selfish
ness, the Savior and the serpent, in the
two simple operations Of giving or with
holding. The deed is but an exponent
back Of that is the motive that prompts it,
Either | love my neighbor as myself or |
do not, and it matters little what the tenn
pCrary outcome is.
It is thus that between the extended
palm and the closed fist there is space for
an eternity Of infinite ioy or woe.
And men know it.-ChriStian Union,