The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1892-02-20

merit ct rial lifei'
"Apd Jesus said unto him. why
callest thou me goodi There 4
none good but on,, that is God.
Thou knOwesl the commandments.
do not commit adulteIy; do not
kill, do not st, Al, do not bear false
witness, detr,ud rot, honor thy
father and lily mother"
With what bold assurance came
the young mans answer; HMa-ter,
all these have / observed from my
youth up, rhat lack getsn
Then came the test of his good
ness aud he could not stand III:
"Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt
be perfect, 90 and sell that thou
hast and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven;
aud come and follow me.n
"But when the young man heard
that saying he went away sorrow
ful for he bad great possessions"
Q, blind, aud sinful ami erIing |!
Selfishness was il his heart; self
love was stronger than divine low;
all unknown to himself he had
yielded to temptation aud become
i self-worshiper, gloiy ying in his
righteousness, which WAS but as
filthy rags.
"What lack | yeGn o, human
heart, in your great de ps sinful.
ness abounds. The greed of Mann
mon, which is naturally stronger
than the love for God, is there.
Those great possessions are a
snare, and IN the case OF his young
man they were q mighty obstacle
between him and eternal lite. 'He
Went away sorrowful," though
immortal lile WAS bell out to hlm;
though the glory and the riches
and the gladlesS of heaven were
pr1ftrred him in place Of tha riches
of earth. Wher- WAS the smile Of
assurance that he wore when he
asked the NJ tster, WHAT lack /
yetW The prayer of hat amiable,
moral Young man should have
b.en, "Lead us not into templa-
tion.n
Another tempalIon to which all
are more Or less subject is cove
tous longing tor tningS that are
denied us; dissatisfaction with
the allOtments OF Providence. With
thiS spirit Of Il satisfaction upon
us we fail 70 make th+. most of our
opportunities and We cry, 50 if |
had been dtfe emily stu nea, what
gteal thugs | conld nave accom-
ishrd. How Droad would have
been my field Of Usefulness, how
vasr my opp0rtunitlrSw
Meanwhile the duties that liz
nearest ns are neg ected /; the work
that Providence has asst ned Us
is uhdune, and tue one talent tina
We possess is hidden il "a napki
All, If We b rot faithful in tie lit.
tie things how can We hope to b.
so IN The great RI DOES not our
Father know better than we what
is best for usp Has He made any
mistake in placing Us where we
are, in citing our iert in the
paths wherein we must walkf
And, moreover, lit us consider
if we have done our utmost to lift
ourselves up 10 higher life. Are
there not high places upon which
We might have stood, but which
we have failed to reach through
our own shortcomings How have
we used the talents that have been
gwen us? Ii we have been blessed
with ten talents have We gained
the other ten, or are We but un.
profitable seryantss
And is there not the temptation
to prOcraStinate in many of the
duties which we have to dc, espec-
ially if the duty which calls us is
not in accordance with our desire>i
Do we not often seek with false
reasoning and plausible sOphis-
tres to excuse ourselves, and re-
fuse to listen TO the voice of con-
sciencef Something more than
mere morality is needed to enable
US to conquer self and to overcome
th' Sc secret sins. Let us ever
pray ..Lrad us not into tempta.
'ion." Let us remember til {
there are sins of omission as we'll
as commission, sins of thought as
well a, deed, and let us srek, AS
tar as we are able, TO put our wills
in harmony with the divine will,
pray ing ever, "Leal MS not into
temptation, but deliver US from
evil, for Thile il b. Kingdom and
the power aud the glory forever,
Amen.p-IUs Angeles Ca. Times.
A REWARD UF 500.