Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-02-07

Assr,< h ealth, an
tsl1 ssslI strength. and al
the usefulness and JOY Of living.
But eating comes first, and the eat
ing that counts is that which has Ia
ken plenty of time for masticaton.
You must retain the food in your
mouth. and get the full taste Of 1t. and
Jet it mingle well with the saliva. and
chew, and chew. and chew, until the
least possible amount is left TO swal-
low. The man who does this has
learned one of ;he great secrets of his
physical being lie has learned how
10 keep well. and how to eat almost
anything hc likes without i'll results.
Keeping the food IN the mouth is the
key to It all.
Something like this is true in the
higher realm Usefulness and joy in
the spiritual life depend on spiritual
health and strength. But these in
turn depend on the spiritual nourish-
ment one takes-its kind, its quantity,
its condition. The only nourishment
for mans soul is the word of God
Desire the sincere milk of the word
that ye may grow thereby" is the in
spired exhortation Il Peter 2:3), and
the more you get OF It the better, al
ways provided that you can digest and
assimiIate it.
Here comes the thought OF eating
again. Holding the word in your mind
is like holding the food in your mouth.
That IS how to get the full taste of it.
Prayer does in the one case what the
saliva does In the other Turning II
round and round, thinking of 1t from
this point OF view and that, asking
questions about it, taking it to your
parents. Your Sunday school teacher.
your pastor, searching it's meaning In
commentary, all these things CORE
spond to the chewing that makes good
digestion and assimilation.
What Got One Day.
The other morning at family pray
,ers read this verse in Proverbs IS:
10. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower: the righteous runneth into 1t,
and Is safe" | at once fastened 1t
correctly In my mind, and as / walked
downtown to my office, | kept eating
II, turning it over and over, and get
ting such a sweet taste out of it and
such a sense of strength and spiritual
satisfaction.
THE name of the Lord" said /,
why that means the Lord HIMSELF
He is a strong tower" And the
strong tower" In olden time that
was place Of defense and protection
like our forts today" The righteous
runneth into it. Who can the righte-
GUS be, save those who are made
righteous through receiving Christ by
faith as their righteousness? Run
Meth there is the thought OF haste
because OF pursuit by an enemy" and
PauTs word came into my mind, I'VE
wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers of the darkness
OF this world, against spiritual wicked
ness In high places" "'Runneth into
II and is safe o, the security and
peace of the believer who puts his
trust in Cod"
But that was not all Before the
day was over needed all the strength
] got out of It. There were trials that
day, the enemy was on my heels. and
how glad | was to run, and to know
the place to run to and be safeI
What the Prophet Meant.
think this is what the prophet
meant when he said: Thy words were
found, and l did eat them: and thy
word was unto me the joy and rejoic-
ing of my heart" And this Is why /
urge every Christian to memorize a
portion of the word of God every day.
1t gives his soul something to feed
upon, and the more he feeds upon, and
digests and assimilates 1t, the greater
is his spiritual strength, and joy, and
power, and fruitfulness in the Lord.
Let me illustrate this. The next
day after my experience with Proverbs /
1910 was at a prayer meeting, and |
being suddenly called upon to give a /
word of exhortation, had an opportu-
nifty to pass on that verse to three or /
four hundred other people. And to
how many more will they pass 1t on? .
They were all bible students preparing
for Christian work In the uttermost
part Of the earth. Can you compute
the number of souls to whom they may
pass 1t on In lifetime, and who, In
turn, may pass 1t on, and on and on
while the age lasts! And all because
of that one little bite of truth | got
that morning, and because held 1t
long enough to chew 1t WE'LL Memo
rize the bible If you want to be blessed
and become a blessing.