The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1903-12-04

verted to his uses the created things or
God, and has spread himself over the
earth as sole proprietor and owner,
does not give man his warrant for like
attitude The evil heart of man has
fallen into the DEVILS way of thinking
and acting, and God is forgotten as the
Creator. Man gathers and enjoys the
wealth and bounty Of the earth, and
lifts never thought toward God as the
Creator of all that the earth contains
r Cd as Ruler of the universe main
" tains that which He has created.
God at all times sustains an intimate
relationship to His created world.
Man usually is not conscious Of it. The
! tendency to materialism blinds the
heart to the thought of God as an ac-
tive agent in every manifestation OF ma
ture. The farmer sows his seed, and
cultivates his field and gathers his
crop and says: 81 sowed the seed,
tended the growing grain, l reaped
and gathered into the barns My
fields produced SO much. 1t is all
mine" And Gods part in the whole
transaction is forgotten. AS the
farmer sowed the seed he forgot
that each tiny grain had within Its
heart the germ Of life which God and
God only could place there. While he
waited for the seed to push its tender
sprout up through the yielding soil, he
e.; 1ol rs 1,a in1,f frr0oc nj
nature at work to transform that seed
into a growing, productive plant. But
sun and rain and nourishing soil were
busy with that mysterious something
called life, which man knows exists In
its myriad forms, but which he cannot
understand or explain. AS the farmer
cultivated the growing grain he forgot
that it was not he who was making it
grow. He could help it grow, but it
was not his effort nor power which
transformed sunshine and rain and
black soil into green stalk and tassel-
ing ear. AS he reaped the grain and
the noisy thresher sent forth it's gold
en- stream of ripened seed, he only saw
so much -four and SO much seed corn
for sowing in the springtime. He did
not think of Gods power which had
packed each little kernel full of enour-
ishing food and creative life, but it was
what God put there which made the
grain worth cultivating and gathering.
Man forgets, until sometimes the
drought dries up the grain and makes
him turn toGod and pray for the
needed rain, or the excessive rains
drown out the crops and force the ear
nest supplication for the blessed sun,
shine. But to-day even Gods control
over the weather is lightly spoken of
and the weather forecasters of the
country are credited with making the
rain and the sunshine. the storm and
the calm.
THE Psalmist exclaims OF the Bounti-
full God: Thou crownest the year
with Thy goodness; and Thy paths
drop fatness." God is the Giver of
the good which He has created and
which His power maintains. And here
arises a difficulty which troubles a
great many people. If God is the giver
of all good, why does He seemingly dis
tribute SO unevenly? To explain this
fully and satisfactorily we should have
to be as wise as God and see the end
from the beginning. Probably the in
eoualities of the lot of Lazarus and the
rich man created discussion and was
one of the enigmas of life which puz-
zled the world then as 1t does to-day,
but in the light of eternity, as Jesus
draws the curtain and reveals the mys-
teries Of Heaven, no one finds it hard
to choose between the good things
which the rich man enjoyed and lost
and the good things which Lazarus was
denied in this life and which were
found awaiting him in the realms of
eternity. This parable suggests par
tial explanation at least why the ma
terial bounties of this world are be-
slowed so uneyenly. God withheld
from Lazarus the good things of this
world that He might give to him the
treasures of Heaven. If Lazarus had
had the wealth of the rich man he
might have been as selfish and blind
spiritually as was the rich man, and
might have bartered his soul for the
ease and pleasure Of this world. This,
as we have said may suggest partial
explanation of the dificulty, and fur
Their light may be found by remember
ing that while God is the giver of every
good thing in the world, man to very
great extent determines how much Of
that good he will be possessed Of. 1t
has been declared that any person can
become rich who makes that the life's