The Clio messenger., 1916-12-08

A-%pF
xS<8&e% |l worth more than
- these?
In a recent religious periodical there
was q picture of drove of animals
being driven through a passage in a
stock yard. In connection with the pic
ture was verse of poetry, describing
these as going to the slaughter with
out care, without dream of death,
without quickened breath, all I'M
knowing, and the last words of the
verse were these: "And these are
sheep" There was another picture Of
young men marching along city
street. They were in civilian clothes,
but each carried bundle as If going
on some very uncertain journey. They
We're described as smiling to cover
hearts that faltered. They knew their
fate they were touched with fear and
hate. They were recruits going to the
slaughter, too, and the last words of
the verse were: "And these are men,"
No. not only in the days of our Lord,
but in these days the question may
be asked, us man better than
sheep?"
Popular Estimate.
A man is worth more than sheep
i'm dollars and cents. In the days of
slavery in this country strong negro
man would fetch more in the market
than sheep. Today if man is killed
by a public conveyance, more can te
recovered on his life than on the life
of a sheep. The higher valuation is
largely because intellectually man is
far above sheep. Whatever may be
the intellectual power of horse or
dog. certainly sheep is considered
the least intellectual of all animals.
Man has a moral nature of which the
sheep is apparently absolutely devoid;
his spiritual nature puts him far above
any animal.
Mans Estimate Of Himself.
But what seems to be mans esti-
mate of himself as compared with
sheep? To preserve sheep Is to pre-
serve perishable property or material
interests. To preserve himself, his
whole being, is to preserve his spirit
ual and immortal interests. How is a
man acting at that point? Is he not
giving more time, thought and labor
to the things that perish than to the
things that endure? Does the Bible
get as deep interest as the morning
paper? Is the house of worship or
prayer attended as enthusiastically as
place of amusement? Is the thought
of making the world better as insistent
as that of pleasing himself?
Man seems to be quite enthusiastic
in the propagation of sheep, spending
money without stint and giving thought
and time to the subject, but how
rarely does he consider the propaga-
tion of the right kind of men. Pos
sibly In this day propagation Of men
for the slaughter in war would be par
allel to the propagation Of sheep for
the food market.
Gods Estimate Of Man.
What is Gods estimate of man? Did
he not create him in his own image
and likeness? Someone has said man
is the paragon of creation. God did
not do so with sheep. 1t is true that
everything in creation was good, but
no creature was in the likeness of God
except man. God made full provision
for the preservation of his own like
ness, making mans environment most
congenial to such preservation, and
when man demanded liberty of moral
choice, God presented the strongest
possible plea for obedience. When man
fell, God still held before hiEl lave of
easy performance and connected with
them the fairest promises of blessing.
AS man demanded moral freedom in
the garden of Eden, so today every
man is responsible to God for his
standing before him. He is his own
keeper, In sense, but as man looks
on himself and recognizes that it is
utterly impossible to be perfectly
moral, and is thus rendered hopeless,
there is only one thing to do, and that
is to recognize Gods gracious provi-
sion for him In presenting the saliva
ton of Jesus Christ before him for
his acceptance. To accept that saliva
ton Is to show that q man estimates
himself above q sheep. Many recog-
nize the value of this acceptance of
Jesus Christ In their own experience,
but are there not many of these who
are quite Indifferent to those who are
about them, who have not so accepted
Jesus Christ as shepherdf To save
sheep out Of ditch is a commend
able thing, but to save the soul of a
man Is something thousand times
more commendable, and is worthy of
the most laborious and persistent ef-
forts.