Evening journal., 1911-11-17


Col. 3;3.
The Old Testament tells us "The
Lord God is a jealous God" Christ
said. "No man can serve two masters"
We must either give Christ supremacy
OF crowd Him out of our lives. The
condemnation of the Laodiceans was
that they rendered God a luke-warm
service and it was rejected by the
Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning Of the creation of God"
Saul of Tarsus probably considered
that he stood high in the estimation
of Heaven, being "the strictest Of the
Pharisees;" he needed a vision to get
his dimensions and as he journeyed' to
Damascus, the light revealed his
stature-he saw, in moment, how
his dwarfed soul appeared in the blaze
of Heavens glory. That contented feel
ing that he was carrying out the law
gave place to consciousness of unworth
mess and at same time a longing to
become worthy Of the commendation
of the one whom he had been perse~
cutting. His Lord, what wilt thou have
me to do was cry of surrender, "a
giving Christ the right OF way in his
life; this surrender was for life, too!
He counted not his life dear unto him
SELF and no hesitency was evinced
when duty sounded call.
The surrender was instantaneous
no counting the cost" no fearing lest
his past misunderstanding OF God'swill
rendered him incapable of good work
in the future. Oh, how past sins throw
damper over ones present activity!
IT is well that God forgets and that
he teaches us the same lesson, albeit
the tears Of remorse fall heavily as we
learn the lesson. No, Saul must not
think of Stephens pitiful repression,
only of his chance to see hope spring
to the eyes Of those yet in darkness
a hope born of his teaching the blessed
truth Of the Gospel of the Son of God.
This instantaneous change Is, or
should be, visible in the life Of every
one who gives Christ first place in his
life To be in doubt whether your
friend is a Christian is a call for you
to solve the problem by asking him a
direct question. There is such thing
as cheapening ones religion; do not
nail up a poster as the coming circus
manager announces his arrival nor adj
vertise your belief as the merchant
calling attention to a special sale of
shoes. Use tact in all things, but there
is no difficulty in discussing the ma
terial affairs of the day with your
friend, why fear to speak of the hope
of continuing your friendship when
the material is lost in the spiritual
Giving Christ the right of way
calls for sacrifice, it was the wit
nesses for the truth who enabled Nero
10 make bonfire of Rome; 1t was be-
lief in the cross of Christ and hope III
His resurrection that made Algernon
Sydney, as the eXecutioncr, thinking he
had some last message for his friends
asked him if "he should rise again,
smlingly lift his eyes from the bloch
and say mot until the day of the gen
eral resurrection Il was belief n
God and being cruciiied with Christ
hat made Jean Naliean the beloved
hero Of fiction. If he had allowed the
innocent man, Champmathieu TO entel
prison and suffer for a crime which h'
had committed in bygone years III
would not have any place IN on
hearts; as he phrased il, he chose TT
enter into hell and there become al
angel" to give up the place he hat
MOn III llt otlEAA VI AAAl HktEAl AAA'
return to the galleys; thus "he wOl
the world" for Jesus won the worll
through shame and beckons US Hi
road True Jean Valjean was guilty
but then years of industry honesty ant
philanthropy intervened between thi
petty theft and his present position
md only a man who was "obedien
unto the heavenly vision" Of duty am
honor could have taken such a stand
Not in every case does "Givini
Christ the right Of way" bring sadness
The parent who makes sacrifices 4
give his son an education does no
think of his own shabby coat. II i
said that Virtue is its own reward.
At any rate the life which is true t
its convictions along any line, be it {
sacrifice for anothers happiness Z
walk the way of Golgotha's heigh
smothering the agony for His dea
sake turning a deaf ear to the plea
sures Of sin and choosing the bette
part" not following the maddin
crowd" but preferring "the fellowshi
of the saints"-this life is the happ
life. There is an undercurrent of 10
beneath the boisterous waves of sol
row for "our joy no man taketh froI
eth understanding. And we are read
to say with Glider;
Lead me- yea lead me deeper into lifl
This suffering human life Wherel
thou liv'st,
And breathest still, and hold'st tn
way divine;
Tis here, o pitying Christ, wher
Thee l seek;
Here where the strife is tiercesi
where the sun
Beats down upon the highway thronl
ed with men,
And the raging mart, D! deeper lea
My soul into the living world of sou
Where thou dost move.
But lead me, Man Divine,
Where'er thou Whilst, only that fin
At the long journeys end thy imae
there,
And grow more like to it."
Ella c. Craig.