The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-09

| tirely upon Gods getting hold of a man
with whom he could accomplish re-
suits.
Abram believed God; therefore God
| could use Abram. The capacity for
| faith is the measure of a souls great
ness. Faith is child1ike. it is true; but
| it is the greatness and power of the
child. To achieve greatly it is first nee
essary to believe greatly. So at the
command to Get thee out from thy
country, and from thy kindred. and
from thy fathers house." Abram took
Jehovah at his word, burned all his
bridges behind him. and became the
great pioneer.
A Goal Worth the Race.
There are as many definitions of sue
cess as there are human temperaments.
people, however, that service is sue
cess The worlds laurel goes to its
greatest helpers. The thinkers. inven-
tors, discoveries, and empire-builders
wear the crowns of honor. OF this
sort was the success assured Abram;
BE thou a blessing and in
thee shall all the families of the earth
be blessed Every good Jew on earth
is fulflment of that promise. All de-
partments of human activity reveal
how Abram has made deposit of his
life in the life of mankind. 1t is thus
that the promise to make his name
great has been fulfilled.
such lives are tied up with the in
terests of heaven. What hurts them,
hurts God; what helps them. helps
God. There is reason for the promise
to Abram, II will bless them that bless
thee, and him that curseth thee, 1 will
curse" Can it be that Russia's woes
are in disguise traceable to her treat
ment of, the children OF Abraham?
This ancient promise would seem to
warrant such an inference.
His family, and even his nephew
went out with Abram. Their welfare
was wrapped up in his decision. The
responsibility was his; the fortune was
shared by them. This is one price
that a man pays for being a man; he
must settle far-reaching questions for
himself and for his family also. Yet,
in the national and divine order, this
IL his duty. He who weakly relin-
pushes it. as many men feel obliged
to do, because his wife or family OBJ
ject to following where his conscience
leads. has abdicated one of the obli-
cations of manhood. Modern life will
not be injured by a somewhat more
rigid adherence to the principle of the
hardship of the husband and father.
Making Path.
There are two kinds of people in the
world, to adopt general characterize
tion,-the people who do things, and
the people who talk about the people
who do things. Abram was one of the
former; and this week at least twenty
five million persons are talking about
him. One voice makes many echoes.
Write book, do a deed, paint a pic
ture, and straightway a hundred skill
ed students will rise up and analyze
your brain and act. and search out
your remotest past. Thus learning pays
tribute to wisdom. Where Abram
travelled in loneliness, sustained only
by his own spirit and an unwavering
trust in Jehovah. uncounted scholars
have since followed, searching for his
footprints. The very point of his
crossing the Euphrates, in the pill
grimage from Haran to Canaan is a
point of controversy.
A unique character in American his
tory is called 1.-The pathfinder" Abram
was a pathfinder. He made a way for
a race that should come in and inherit
tho land which he possessed only by
faith. Still the world needs, as des-
perately as it did in Abrams day, MAX
ers of new paths. To be a pioneer is
a noble ambition, and the realization a
priceless privilege. For the pioneer
gotten, and his path becomes high
way of blessing.
Every noble spirit has its hours of
doubt and dependency when it's
CLEAN grows dim and its fire of pur-
pose seems to die down into cold
ashes; then it needs the reinsurance
such as came to Abram in canaan, |
1t is hard to travel through life on |
the strength of one great spiritual ex-
perience; and it Is unnecessary. The
Lord gives fresh reveaIings of him |
self by the way to the faithful SER
want, even as he appeared to the pa
triarch at the oak of Moreh. Quick |
to see the religious significance of /
everything in life Ca vision to be COW |
eted), Abram built an altar, or mem
orial and a place of worship. Again, |
at the next station of his journey, near
what later became known as Bethel |
he again reared an altar. For Abram
was fundamentally man of faith; and |
to him, the beginning and ending of
all things. and the events between, was