The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-03-23

| ual makeup. He was not willing "a
follow Christ blindly; he was not will
ing to follow Him as an ignorant man
TO whom the name Of Jesus means but
little more than n fetch. but he wanted
TO know TO the fullest extent who
Christ was and what Christ wanted
him 10 do.
Methlnks am vending my way over
the Arabian desert II Is about the
year 3S A. D., or two years after PauFs
conversion. on I'm the distance | see an
oasis. Right on the edge Of that oasis
Is n little hut. Under the shadow Of It's
walls see there a man sitting with a
scroll Of parchment on his knee. lie
has an eye like a hawk. There is some
thing about the curve Of his forehead
which proves that he has been a leader
Of men. There Is something about his
mouth which tells me those lips are the
| lips Of eloquence. He Is not a hand
some man. His back is bent like that
Of a student. His stature is under size
As approach his humble hut this
small figured Hebrew halls ne: "Stran-
ger. wilt thou not come in and rest
awhle2 / have not much to give thee,
but what IS mine Is thine" After we
have had q pleasant conversation for a
little while lntultlyely feel that am
in the presence Of great man. l turn
deferentally and say, May ask who
/ IS my host and for what thou dOst
show me this courtesy todayT My
new found friend answers simply: Il
am Paul Of Tarsus. ! greet thee thus
| for the love Of my Master, Jesus
Christ" "Whatw | exclaim In great
amazement you are not Paul, other
wise known as Saul Of Tarsusi You
/ are not the man who was famed as
| the greatest and the most bitter and
unrelenting prosecutor Of the Chris
tlansg You are not the man who was
supposed to be converted on the Da-
mascus road and then fed from Da-
mascus and have been in hiding for
the last two yearsT "The same" says
my host
Then I say: But, Paul, why art thou
/ here. out in this desertl You seem to
be living here alone without a friend
Why do you not 90 back TO Jerusalem
and take your position by the side OF
the other disciples Of Christ and be
there a leader for your MasterY Il
cannot 90 yet" says Paul. - am ft-
| ting myself for future work by study
ing Gods word TO find out what be
wants me 70 do" "Not fitted YETI Why,
Paul, thou art one Of the most learned
men Of all the east. Thou hast sat at
the feet Of the greatest teachers. Thou
hast been the favorite pupil Of CANA
liel. the most famous teacher Of the
east" True" says Paul, Il am not un-
learned I'm many things. People say ]
am a leader. But / have been study
ing art in the past for arts sake and
eloQuence for eloquence's sake. All the
greatest books Of the past are mine.
but TO be worldly wise IS not 10 be splr-
Itually wise. And so | have turned my
back upon the world now for two years
simply TO read Gods word. want the
teachings Of Christ In every sense 10
become part Of my life" Then the
mighty Paul bends upon me his great
soulful eyes, full Of earnest beseech-
ment, ms he says. "Would'st thou have
me conversant with the messages OF
men and not conversant with what my
Lord and Master Jesus Christ is and
what he wants me to DOR
Is Paul speaking 10 you today, o men
and womeni Years ago your mother
wanted you to become a good musician.
She was urging you week In and week
out TO practice. Daughter" she used
10 say, you must practice at least two
hours n day or else you can never mas
ter the keys" Year In and year out
you have consecrated two hours a day
10 studying the works Of the great mu-
sclans. How many minutes per day
do you 60 of alone into your Arabia
to study Gods wordl One hundred
and twenty mlnutesl Sixty minutes
One-half hOurl Ten minutesi DO you
take five minutes alone with God every
day for reading a chapter out Of bis
holy booki You have your library
shelves filed with books. Scientific
books. essays, books Of travel, books
Of all sorts are there. 60 into your
library and turn over the leaves hap
hazard. find that you have read most
Of these books. Have you systematical-
" read Gods book as much as you
have the books Of human authOrsi Is
your Idea Of an education great
deal Ike that Of the poor Irishwoman
whose husband was learning how 10
read? One day her pastor came to her
and said: "Well. Mary. l understand
John is learning how to read Can he
read the first chapter OF Genesis yetT'
"Bless your heart pastor" said Mary,
John Is doing better than that He
has got far beyond the Bible. Why.
John now spends most Of his time In
reading the daily newspapers. Isn't
that splendldT All. my friends, II
matters not how smart we are intel
lectually. we can never get so educated
that we are beyond studying the word
Of God. Is there a daily Arabia for
youf II Paul. who once sat at the feet
Of Gamaliel. had to spend three years
In the deserts sands 10 study Gods
word m fud ont who Christ vas and
what be wanted MIN 10 90, surely your
time is not wasted when you are read
ing the Psalms or sitting at Christs
feet when be breaches to you the ser
mon on the mount as be uttered II to
the multitudes of old.
But mere knowledge OF Gods word
was not a sufficient equipment TO have
made Paul the highest type Of a gospel
evangelist. A man may know all
about the Bible and yet not have one
particle Of spiritual power in his heart.
lie may study his Bible In exactly the
same sense as l might study the my
thology OF the Greeks and the Romans
or learn why Mecca and Medina and
r..-.,-,r.., orF TTofron ara fhe four