The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-08-20
STEPS.
increasing

(selected for The Times -Dispatch)
LAS for me. my feet were almost
gone: my steps had we'll nigh slipped"
Psalm lxXiii. 2.
We have all known what 1t Is to go
out on a frosty morning. and find tho
road sleeted with Ice, everywhere Slip
perry and dangerous. especially for
those going downhill. Just so is this
world slippery place, especially If we
are going downhlll. 1t Is so much
easier to fall into sin than to get UP
again. Saint Paul says. see then you
walk worthy of your vocation. where
with ye are called" That is. worthy
of Christian, OF child of God. How
then ought We SO to walk? We can
only learn by taking one step at a
time. Too many of us want to run
and plunge .nto the future, and In this
way we neglect the steps near ut
hand and SO slip and fall. We must
live each day the very best we can
and leave the future to God. We must
feel ourselves holding Gods hand even
as the trusting child holds to It's par
be Withheld. God will give us the cour-
age to withstand the temptations of
the world II we trust and pray TO Him.
but by ourselves we arc sure to fall.
for our poor human determination and
strength will not keep us on our feet.
were II traveller tries to climb
without being tied fast to u guide 1t
means destruction. How many such
places there are in this life; and for
this reason we must try to walk close
to God and keep fast hold OF His
hand.
Let US keep to the uphill road that
is the hard climb, but we can then say.
Behold, we so up to Jerusalem; we
sock the heavenly Jerusalem which is
above" Tho higher we climb up a
mountain the pur,r tho air, and so 1t
is of every truo life; the higher the
Ideals and aims the greater the pure
atmosphere of inspiration to all who
come In touch with 1t. Some people 30
up because they are filled with the
the things of earth. others 60 down
| because they are overloaded with
worldly matters. But anything Is bet
ter than going down. Though we make
mistakes and fall. 1t matters not II we
only continue striving and keep our
races set to go up to Jerusalem. And
| so let MS always keep the end OF tho
! journey in view. that is, the end of the
| Christians journey, which is Heaven,
the home of Jesus We must always
keep in our minds what Jesus did for
us and strive to lead a lifo as far as
possible worthy of His great sacrifice
for us There are many things to
make the downhill road an easy one
| and one of these steps is pride, which
makes us boastful and sure OF our own
strength until, unaided, we stumble and
fall Another step downward comes
to us, as to st. Peter, who received a
warning and paid no heed to It,
Verify. verify 1 say unto thee. before
the cock crow thou shalt deny Me-
And Peter answered. Though 7 should
die with Thee, yet will l not deny
Thee" He had received the warning
and then disregardcd 1t. Conscience
the Bible, the church say TO us. Take
| care; you are getting off the right road
YOU are in danger" We fail to re-
ceive the warning, and so many of us
fall. The remedy we may all have Is
to follow our Lords advice to ST
Peter when He told him to watch and
pray lest he should enter into tempta-
ton: but. as we remember, st. Peter
instead of watching and praying went
to sleep. So 1t is with too many of us
we neglect 20 pray and watch. and sin
overtakes us.
Again we take fatal step like
Peter when we mix with the enemies
of Christ When Peter should have
been watching and praying he was in
stead warming himself by the fire
with the enemies OF Jesus Do not
let us expose ourselves to this tempta-
ton knowingly, but If we find our
selves facing it then let us be brave
and remember that the moth that con-
tinues to fit around the candle will
| in time get singed. Let us try to help
these enemies OF Christ and make
them His servants II we are thrown
with them, but do not let ourselves
deny Jesus by lending countenance to
| profanity, mbelief or anything harm
ful to the Masters cause. II we con-
tinue to expose ourselves to the in
lection OF evil we will catch the dis