The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1912-07-11

- n E then entered the
synagogue, where
he healed the man with the withered
hand, to which they also objected,
saying: as It lawful to heal on the
Sabbath day." that they might accuse
him. Jesus replied with the simple
Illustration OF the sheep In a pit and
closed by asking, How much then is
q man better than a sheep?"
Men and women are such poor
judges Of values that they are easily
deceived. Merchants deceive their
customers with imitation silks, woods,
and all manner of grocery products.
The milkman can water the milk and
escape detection except by the in.
spector's test. Frenzied finance takes
millions OF dollars from the pockets
Of the poor. A flaming ad. in the paper
draws people to California, Cripple
Creek, and the Klondike for gold. Men
leave their families without a living,
breaking their promise to maintain
wife and children, and leave to follow
a will-o-the-wisp vision of gold. Some
show the fickleness and shallowness
Of human Judgment when It comes to
the estimate OF values.
In any daily paper one may find quo
tations Of the value of cattle, sheep,
hogs, etc, but not of the value of
man. On the farm the shepherd care
fully protects his sheep. A lamb.
born on a cold, rainy, spring day is
wrapped In a blanket, placed by the
kitchen fire; chickens Matched, are
put in baskets, carefully guarded and
fed. but, alas, the spiritual care of a
man Is neglected. II a man poisons
your sheep, he will be arrested, but a
hundred saloonkeepers might give
your boy a drink and not one Of them
be held responsible. They may rob
your boy Of his money and manhood
until he loses his employment, and Is
compelled to sleep In a ten-cont lodg-
ing house with nothing to eat but
what he begs. but they go unmolested
and their business is protected by the
law; while II your boy should commit
a crime, when under the influence Of
the liquor he got from one of them. he
would be punished. and the saloon
keeper would escape. Poisoning sheep
sheep Is not protected by law. How
much then is a man better than a
sheep?"
Sweat shops cost the slow death Of
thousands because Of the greed for
gold. A dollar Is worth more than
human life. Accidents frequently
happen because of the pure careless
ness on the part Of some one who ut
terly failed to consider the value of
man.
Gods estimate OF the value OF men
can only be the correct one. because
the one who makes a thing is the one
who knows It's worth. The value Of
sheep is estimated In the market Of
the world. so God estimates the value
Of q man by the market of heaven.
into one scale of a balance. and the
whole world into the other. the soul
would outweigh the world. For this
reason the soul cannot have an earth
ly value, because It would take more
than the whole world to buy Just one
soul.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees' view
OF things by which they estimated
their opinions. and wondered at their
shallow judgment in the estimation Of
the value Of a man; SO he must do to-
day as he sees people estimating the
relative values OF things they secure.
and of the Improbable way in which
they spend their time. People take q
fancy to some bric-a-brao and pay
foolish price for It. but In a year or
two transfer II to the attic and then
to secondhand store to make room
for something else which has caught
their fancy. Do you remember how
many things you discovered the last
time you moved which you had once
priced. but which you had come to
call rubbish" and how you remarked.
II wish l had the money back that
spent on these" II was because you
had not placed the proper value on
them when you made your purchase.
When Christ came to investigate the
condition Of the human race and see
what he could do to ameliorate the
suffering caused by sin, he did not
waste his time on trifies by trying TO
create better environment nor patch
up the weaknesses OF men.
There are doubtless few Christians
but what feel from time to time that
the money they spend here and there
to crafty passion or fancy Is worse
than wasted. There is only one way |
to correct this habit and that Is TO ask
God to give you the true vision OF
values as they have been estimated In
the commercial rating OF heaven.