The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1891-06-19
For The Glory of God.

One of the cOmmOnost mistakes that
men make Is to split up their lives into
two parts, secular and religious. Such
things as buying, selling, and getting
gain they include in the former; and
Such as reading the Bible, saying their
prayers, and going to Church, In the
latter. All this Is essentially unchris-
tian. According to the uniform teacl-
ing of the New Testament, our whole
life from beginning to end belongs to
God, and not merely some broken
and scattered fragments OF 1T. The
duties of the home, the field, the shop,
the contingencies are just as impera-
tive as those of the sanctuary, and
ought to be performed with as strong a
sense of religious obligation.
st. Paul brings out this truth and sets
it in forefront by means of two extreme
and vivid statements. The first OF the
statements is: "And whatsoever ye do
in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to COD
second is still more specific and con-
crete: "Whether therefore ye eat, or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God" Now eating and
drinking are among the most common
place acts of which we are capable.
They belong almost exclusively to the
lower and sensual side of our nature.
They have no reference to intellectual or
spiritual wants, but to bodily and
| fesbIy appetites. If, therefore, even
those acts may be redeemed by religious
considerations from the level of coarse
and SWiniSh delights, and lifted up to
the heights Of religious service, is there
any part of our lives that may not be
subjected to a similar transformation?
What about blowing, sowing, thresh-
ing, trading, Teaching, talking, reading,
and writing?
of course st. Paul does not mean to
insist that every time we eat bite OF
food we should stop and say: 81 eat
| this to The glory of God" The man
who moves on that line Will become
either an empty Journalist or else a can't
| ing hypocrite. What the apostle does
mean is that we should be so supremely
and unreservedly committed and con-
secrated to God by our own personal
choice and election that all our
thoughts, words, and works even the
least and most insignificant of them-
should naturally and, as it were, un-
consciously conduce to his glory.
| . if we could but see these things in
their true light, how much happier we
should be! Instead of regarding our
daily tasks as a dull drudgery to be per-
formed for the mere satisfaction of our
| momentary wants, or AS an eager and
! impetuOus competition with our fellow
beings for the cOYeted prizes that the
] world has to offer, we should see that
they are really, if done Alright, forms OF
I divine ministry.
Who sweeps n room as for thy laws,
! Makes that and the action fine.
The mother in her endless work Of
pretty labors a. home; the father in his
hard and grinding work abroad; the
children studying their lessons al
school, and thus fitting themselves fol
future usefulness, are all serving God,
provided they are animated by the
proper spirit.
The farmer as he drives his team
afield, the blacksmith as he beats the
sparks from the glowing iron, and the
hod-carricr as he bonds beneath the
lead he carries, may be, is as truly doint
Gods work aS the man who stands il
the pulpit hristidn Il dOOcGte.