The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-02-21

What is that dlseasei A correct dag
nosis is the first step TO complete the
cure
Suppose for moment YOU have
boy who. instead of growing into
health and strength. Is pinched ana
dwarfed and anemic In appearance.
You take the lad TO n physician. and
he will tell you that that boy of yours
is really suffering from a wrong habit
Of life. He Is not being nourlshed nrop-
erly. His digestive organs are being
overloaded with food which he cannot
assimilate What the hoy needs Is not
more food. but less: not richer diet.
but simpler. Nature Is being thwarted
by artificial living. and artificial living
is the seed-plot of disease. And the
physician will doubtless tell you that,
the boy being young, the cure Is simple.
He will say: "Glve nature n chance
by simplifying his daily diet" Well.
IL Is even so with the health of tho soul.
Our souls are starved and stunted by a
disease. which is created and aggra-
vated by a wrong mode of life. We
are so gorging our minds with all the
elaborated and artificial forms of liv-
ing. that the spiritual within us is
stihed. Sin is the disease which kills
the soul. but sin is simply product of
that sordid selfish life which clogs the
great arteries of the soul. If deiiher-
ately we follow n life which makes 10
provision for prayer and communion
with God. which cherisheS evil habits
and nourishes actions which begin and
end in self. then we are deliberately
killing the soul within us. What. then,
Is the price we have to pay II we want
to grow soul? We must change the
mode of life which enthralls MS. and
make provision. not for the things OF
the flesh. but of the spirit. In that
purer. sweeter, simpler atmosphere the
the soul will inevitably begin TO grow.
The vitality Of your soul is wonderful
Its recuperative powers are marvellous,
but these powers must have their on
pOrtunity. Here is a disease which is
stunting and slowly killing my soul
am | willing to fulfill the condition
which will eradicate that disease. and
make spiritual growth a reality?
2. That leads to the third point.
What Is that condition? And who of
us. by his own strength. is sufficient to
meet that condition? We cannot GER
tainly, by our own efforts, hope to re-
verse those natural tendencies within
us which ware against our souls. We
cannot. by any strivings of our own,
force spiritual growth. II we are un-
able to add cubit to our physical
stature. much less can we add TO our
spiritual growth. Yet. the call or
Christ is to grow in grace. and in His
likeness" What. then. is the secret of
that growth? The Gospel Of Christ is
the answer. Our souls grow as Trey
come into living touch with Him. We
cannot transform ourselves. but we are
transformed into His likeness. MS we
reflect the spirit of Jesus, and we re-
fleet Jesus in the measure that we re-
fleet on Him. Make Christ the theme
of your daily prayer and meditation.
and every moment YOU spend in His
presence IS springtlde of spiritual
growth within your soul. That growth
you cannot check: no sin can hinder II
if you are living in the atmosphere or
Christs life. 1t is not our strivings
and strugglings that add to the stature
of the soul: it is our faith. simple rs
that of little child which, laying hold
of the love of God revealed in Christ.
builds up the soul. day by day, into His
grace and into His likeness.
Ncw. | ask. is there anything strange
or mysterious about that? Is spiritual
growth subject to laws any different
from those which govern any process
of mental development? Surely not.
To make any theme subject of daily
thought Is TO make that theme potent
influence in your life. The more deeply
IL laws hold of your mind the more pro-
foundly It becomes part of yourself,
All YOU have to do is to fulfil the con-
dition of continuous thought, and the
object of your thought reacts upon you
and becomes n dominant factor of
growth We speak, for instance, OF Il
man being possessed by some master
passion-it may be the love of money,
or of power, or of sordid self-indul-
gence. or of some higher interest, but
whatever it is, the result is the same.
Constant dwelling upon it moulds char
acter into its likeness.
SO II is with the soul that surrenderS
itself to the influence of Jesus. As we
think of Him, and as we enter into the
spirit of His life, and breathe the at
mOsphere of His love and purity, grad
ually we are transformed, and the soul
within MS leaps up into glad recognition
Of its lawful Love. Every power we
have, every faculty we possess be-
comes interpenetrated by His spirit,
and because His spirit is life we live
also.