The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-08-08
PRAY FOR HIM WHO WONT GIVE
ANY ROAD.
Contributor Suggests Prayer Tor
Autoists When They Meet a
Man Who Will Not Turn
Ont. t.-'"

"Now if any man hath not the
spirit of Christ he is none OF his
Romans, SO.
A mans condition as God views
| him is determined by the spirit he
possesses and by the kind OF
spirit that possesses him. There are
two spirits that dominate or con-
troll mankind, namely, the spirit
of God and the spirit OF the devil.
This statement is self evident and
| men are moved by one or the other.
He is possessed of one or the
other and one or the other possesses
| him. | heard man say not long
ago that he could tell christian
better by trading horses with him
than by going to prayer meeting
with him. ''Now if any man hath
not the spirit of Christ he is none
of his" (Rom. 8, 81
Here is where we make our mis-
take, we look in the wrong place
for evidence for a mans christian
ity. You can know something of
a mans religion by what he says,
what he does and the spirit with
which he does it. 1t is not the So
called large things man does that
determines a mans character, but
by the spirit manifested in the doing
of the little things of every day
life. l cannot stop to enumerate
these little courtesies that pro-
claim not only the spirit of the man
but his degree of culture as well.
Take for example this, which
you may see every day: If you are
so fortunate, or otherwise, as to
own Or ride in an auto, you wont
ride very far before you will discov-
er this lack of brotherly feeling
and the absence of the spirit OF
Christ. When you overtake a man
in an empty lumber wagon or
buggy as the case may be, you
sound your warning that you may
not brighten his team or turn in
front of your car, but he doesn't
turn out. He is as dead to your
"honk" as he is to the voice of
God. He stays in the middle of
the road, irrespective of the danger
to you or the ladies and gentle
men in your car. Perhaps he is on
his way to the tentmeeting where
if an opportunity is offered he
will tell us how "marvelously God
has cleaned him up" when as Sam
Jones would say, God had only
puked on him. cpuke' is a bible
term remember). IF any man
hath not the spirit of Christ he is
none of his"
Now you will get a more correct
estimate Of that man in front of
your auto in the road than in the
prayer meeting. But we must take
things as we find them. So l sug-
gest that you not only examine the
amount of oil in the tank before
you start, but silently, or other
wise, offer up a petition before you
start for sufficient grace to with
stand the temptation to backslide
as you overake one of these men
(thanks to the All Father they are
not all that way). There are
many gentlemen christian farmers
and they will manifest a christian
spirit even to man in an auto as
quick as in prayer meeting.
have suggested that you petition
for a sufficient supply of grace.
Can I be helpful to you my broth
er autoist (as you may not be ac-
customed to pray) by suggesting
brief formula? How would this do?
20 Lord, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God OF
Jacob, the God who notes the spar
rows fall, the God who has made
of one blood the nations of the
earth and permitted us to call him
our Common Father, have mercy
upon that selfish, unbrotherly man
or woman, whom we may overtake
during our journey. We don't know,
Lord, who they may be but the
woods are full of them who are as
deaf to the honk of an auto as they
are to the voice of God. That man
and that woman who holds the
middle of the beaten highway COM
polling the autoist to turn out in the
weeds at the risk of the life of his
company, Lord, help him to see these
as his brothers and sisters. Lord,
please give us grace to endure this
sore temptation to backsliding, and
if it may please thee to do something
for the man or woman in the wagon
that would render them less dan
gerous to their fellows, please
grant it for thy names sake. Amen.
My unbro therly brother, may I
suggest, till you can manifest
Christ-like spirit on the road, I
would pray short, something after
this fashion, Lord be merciful to
me sinner" ever remembering
Rom. 8, 8, Nov if any man hath
not the spirit of Christ, he is none
of his"
P. c. Stire.
P. S.-Please remember, reader,
I don't own an automobile and am
prompted from no selfish motives
but by the spirit of kindness to give
you this letter of exhortation.
ZEMO FOR DANDRUFF.