The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-03-26

werld as in the physical world. Take
victor Hugo's sentence about the evil
thought in the mind and let it develop
Itself Every thought is memorable and
viii certainly become deed. Every deed
IS memorable and will certainly become q
habit. Every habit is mex orable and viii
certainly become character And the
character determines whether we shall
dwell with the angels in light or with the
demons in darkness.
When young men are spoken to on the
subject of religion; when they are urged
10 form their character and conform their
conduct after tie teaching and example
OF Christ; when they are exorted 10 deny
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live
sooerly, rlghteOusly, cody in this pres
ent world, they often dismiss the
subject OF religion by saying, There
is time enough yet 10 consider
these things. l am young and must
ENJOY myself. You must not be too
exacting. You must allow US some mar
gin. We must sow our wild oats, you
know. lis true, we allow ourselves lit
tie lndulgenceS here and there. But we
will get over these things after a while.
We do not intend for one moment to live
our lives through in this loose, irreligious
fashion,"
If any before me propose to SOW their
wild oats in this way, have this to say
TO them: You may do so, but do SO with
your eyes open. Listen Either in this
world or the next, and perhaps in both,
you will have TO reap every acre Of wild
oats that you SOW. The sowing is op-
tlonal. You may SOW or not SOW, as you
decide. But the harvesting is not OPP
tIonal. If you SOW you must reap. You
cannot escape the consequences of your
own deeds. Every immoral thought you
indulge in, every immoral act you COM
init, VIII mar and scar your moral ma
ture. 4ou can no more prevent the re-
coil of your evil deed on yourself than
you can prevent the tide from returning
TO the shore.
Our American humorist, Burdette. has
put this truth clearly when he says:
Dung man, it doesn't hurt you par
tlcle to SOW wild oats. Go ahead and sow
as you wish. But it is the gathering in
OF the crop that will make you howl.
And you have to gather it, too. II you
don't it gathers you, and the one is a
great deal worse than the other"
You say that after few years of riot
Gus living you will come back, like the
Prodigal, receive the fathers ring and
robe and kiss and live the rest of your
days moral and Christian life.
In the gospel of the grace of God there
is way back, | know. 1t is possible
for man TO be cleansed of sins dehle-
ment and be made pure in heart again.
&
mans life from the weeds of sin and re-
plant it with the fruits of the Spirit. But
while the story is told of the one prodi-
gal who found his way back, L think
with sorrow of the many who never
come back. There are returnless paths
OF sin. The law of my text prevails in
the kingdom of grace. And, men, tell
you the truth when / say that the way
back from life of vice TO life of virtue
is difhcult-always difficult. 1t is easy
to drift down the stream of self-indul-
gence. 1t is hard to row up the nights
again.
You know something of cut-rates on
the railroad. When in St. Paul a few
years ago they cut rates from St. Paul to
Chicago for two dollars. A young man
intent on pleasure buys ticket and soon
finds himself in the big city, having a
grand time. When he came to buy his
ticket home he found, to his dismay, it
was full fare back. When he started
away from home he did not count the
cost of return.
Satan may allure you away into the far
country Of sin by offering you cut-rates.
But when, Prodigal-like you think of re-
turning home, you will find to your dis
NAV, it will be full fare back. The Prodi-
gal could ride away from home in cush-
toned Pullman, but he had to tramp back
barefoot. The way back is hard. Before
y CONSIDER
what 1t Will cost to come back from life
of vice to life of virtue. Before you sow
the field OF your life with wild oats, con-
slider what 1t Will cost you to reap them.
A child can form an evil habit; it wants
Hercules to break one. To root up and
root out the evil that intrenches itself in
ones nature by few years of indulgence
in sinful habits is never an easy task
TO break away from habits of vice and
reform habits OF virtue is ditiicuit-al-
ways difficult. With the help of God it
can be done. 1t is not impossible. And
yet, in reference to this, one realizes the
force of the prophets words-"Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard
his spots? Then may We also do good
that are accustomed to do evil" Man
first forms the habit, and then the habit
forms the man. 1t has HIM, it holds him.
Carlyle says ''habit is the deepest law
in human nature" Bacon SAYS fhabit is
second nature.'' Wellington said, habit
is ten times nature" LamartIne saws
"habit, with its iron sinews, clasps and
leads u.s." Thus men are bound bv
chains of their own forging, and these
chains are generally to small to be felt
until they are too strong to be broken.
Therefore, before you begin to SOW YOUR
wild oats, think what the harvest is
likely to be. Before you buy your cut
rate ticket away from home, and virtue
and God, think what it will cost you to
come back. The way back is a hard,
steep, difficult path. and few there be that
find it. The young woman toyed with
the tempter and at last fell. When her
true position dawned on her. she re-
GREETED and repeuted her folly and sin
and longed to return to virtue again She
wanted to come back to home and society.
She wanted to come back to the conf
dence and respect of the community.
hanl- y
Never!
If one hundred young men would form
club TO live fast life; TO live as gam
blers and HbertineS; to drink anu in
oulge in all the pleasant vices, how many
OF them would come back TO yirtuous.
honorable manhood? Not five out of the
hundred. The biography OF many a
moral wreck may be written in one sem
tence. II got a-golng in wrong way and
couldn't stop" 1t is the supreme foIIy
If not the supreme insanity of man, 10
suppose that he can spend the first ten or
fifteen years of his young manhood in
sowing wild oats, and then suddenly
turn about, and, by the incarnation OF
some prayer or ceremony, dodge the re-
suits of his sinful sowing and reap the
golden sheaves Of virtue and religion.
''Be not deceived: God is not Knocked.
for whatsoever a man soWeth, that shall
he also reap
When you look at this business of SOW
ing wild oats straight III the face, what
does it mean? 1t means that young
man must ruin his health before he be-
gins 10 save it. 1t means that he must
contract bad habits before he begins to
form good habits. 1t means he must live
a debaGehed life before he lives sober
life; that he must be prolane before he
becomes reverent. 1t means that he must
wallow in the mire OF sensual lust before
he enters the crystallized bowers of pure
love. 1t means that he must make a fool
OF himself before he begins to make a
wise man of himself. IL means that he
must develop what is coarse and carnal
in his nature before he begins To cultivate