The daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Leflore Co., Miss.) 1916-1919, 1917-01-12

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" " stthese?
In a recent religious periodical there
was a picture Of a drove of ANIMAL
being driven through a passage in
stock yard. In connection with the pic
ture was a verse OF poetry, describin.
these as going to the slaughter with
out a care, without'a dream of death
without a quickened breath, all un
knowing, and the last words of thu
verse were these: "And these are
Sheep" There was another picture Of
young men marching along a city
street. They were In civilian clothes
but each carried q bundle as If going
on some very uncertain journey. They
were described as smiling to cover
hearts that faltered. They knew thell
fate; they were touched with fear and
hate. They were recruits going to the
slaughter, too, and the last words Of
the verse we're: "And these are men,
No, not only in the days of our Lord
but in these days the question mag
be asked, lis q man better than 8
sheepW t5f5E
Popular Estimate.
A man is worth more than a sheer
in dollars and cents. In the days OF
slavery In this country a strong negro
man would fetch more in the market
than a sheep. Today If a man is killed
by a public conveyance, more can be
recovered on his life than on the life
sf a sheep. The higher valuation is
largely because Intellectually man is
far above a sheep. Whatever may be
the intellectual power u a horse or
a dog, certainly a 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 a
sheep? To preserve a 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?i 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
q 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-
ton Of the right kind Of men. Pos
slbly 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 SC with sheep. It Is true that
everything in creation was good, but
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
God presented the strongest
possible plea for obedience. When man
fell, God still held before him laws Of
easy performance and connected with
them the fairest promises Of blessing.
As man demanded neral freedom in
the garden Of Eden, so today every
man is responsible to- God for his
standing before him. He is his own
ACCpcls AL u SCuScs ouI as LIuu lUUhS
on himself and recognizes that 1t is
impossible to be perfectly
moral. and is thus rendered hopeless,
there is only n thing to do, and that
to recognize Gods gracious provi-
for him In presenting the saliva
hon Of Jesus Christ before him for
his acceptance. To accept that saliva
lion Ia to show that a ms estimates
above a sheep. Many recog-
1ize the value Of this acceptance Of
Jesus Christ In their own experience.
but are there not many of these who
ire quite Indifferent to those who are
lbout them, who have not 50 accepted
Jesus Christ as shepherd? 10 save
sheep out Of a ditch is a commend.
lble thing, but to ave the soul of a
nan Is something a thousand times
more ~commendable, and Is worthy of
he most laborious and persistent ct.
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