The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1902-03-13
Comm union or servicet

The question, "How much OF my time
shall l give to God!" is not an unusual
one in religious meetings Of young people.
what part of my means shall | give to-
the LordE is also common. The same
idea underlies practices like the Morning
Watch" the Week of Self-Denial," and
other special seasons set apart Tor the
giving of time or OF money to God. VI
course. untold good may come out or the
observance OF such seasons, but there IS
also a subtle danger in the idea which IS
liable to be overlooked God has right
to all our time. 1t is his. How, then, can.
we talk about giving" it to him? More
over, the time spent in Gods service 1s
that which is most fruitful for us as lnd1-
viduals. In what sense shall We distinguish
our time and Gods time?
The writer remembers being told, in
childhood, OF a woman, still young, VINO
had read the Bible through twenty times
on her knees And yet there were many
boys and girls within one mile OF her
home who did not know how to read the
Bible. That she died early o. consump-
ton was then considered the s.gu and seal
of her sainthood, whatever Interpretation
the present bacteriologist might be inclined
to give The antipode OF her type IS the
busting Christian, who Is so busy with
sporadic attempts to make money iof the
church that she has no time to red lze the
open her soul to receive such mho"!ng.
The problem for many a child OF God IS
how to unite the worthier elements OF the
seemingly ireconcilable characters.
An occupation whose essential nature
makes withdrawal from communion with
God necessary is wrongly chosen, and
should be given up as soon as possible. 1t
is often quite possible, however, that in
stead of having made mistake IN our
choice of occupation, we are living, or try
to live, two lives, putting God in one and
the occupation in the other. An occupa-
ton, in itself not Incompatible with the
divine life, may be made so by piaclnG 1T
in a universe OF desire IN winch the divine
has no place. Instead OF perpieXlng our
selves as to how our time shall be divided
between our religious duties and our occu-
pations, we would far better put the rell-
gion and the occupation in the same uni
verse OF desire let them be organic parts
of the anne life, and then live that life
strong rtrnestly and sngiy. When we
find { our daily work, IN our recrea-
ton. nature about US, even in the
debasC manly we are born to elevate,
we sha not need to ask any question
about how much time we should take away
from these things to give to Him.
There is perhaps no figure OF speech
which has so clouded our conception of
God and our relations to Him as that IN
volved in calling Him king. The kings Of
the earth are in no real sense ana!ogues or
God. Yet we talk about our contributions
to religious purposes as if we We're paying
God tribute. We think of Him as punish
ing US and Judging us as an earthly ruler
would do. We find no better illustration
OF the respect due Him than the state and
ceremony with which earthly kings sur
round themselves. We are learning now
that the monarch of earth often SIMPLY
use tricks, trappings and vulgar devices to
command the respect of the vulgar in their
etquet and pageantry Does the God OF
heaven and earth need this? We talk about
appearing before God as if we were not al
ways before Him. We do not pay God trib-
ute at all. All that we have is His. There
should be no question Of our individual
uses, if our life is, indeed, hid with Christ
in God" Is it not presumptuous to talk
of giving to the Lord! 1t is He who ID
sharing His own with lis. Our oneness
with Him should be of such nature as to
preclude anything like jealous division.
1t is not only true that communion with
out service loses its vitality, and that SER
vice without communion loses It's Joy, but
it is also true that neither can exist with
out the other. They are parts of an or
ganic whole in which the UNION Is so vital
that separation would be as fatal as would
the severance of the heart and lungs IN the
human body The most intimate commu-
Mon with our heavenly Father is to be at
tanned only by means of the most devout
service Gods hottest shrine is the soul OF
man. and He is in the haunts OF men in
larger measure than in the closet, The
devotee on his knees in the heavy air of
his chamber is often further away from
the God he seeks than the sister OF mercy
as she returns through the golden dawn
from the chamber of suffering The mid
day withdrawal or the morning watch may
be an isolation from the highway where
Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.-Sunday-
School Times.