The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-06

God concerning his VIII ABOUT me and
| then to live in harmony with it,
A friend sent me poem. Here 1t Is:
I said. Il will walk in the heids.~
God said, Nay. walk in the town.
I said. There are no flowers there
lie said. mo flowers. but q crown"
said. But the fogs are thick and the
clouds .
NJ I ~ - " ".
In the dark undona."
said, but the skies are black.
There Ia nothing but noise and din"
He wept an he led me back. There Ia
more"
He said, There Is sim
l said. Il shall miss the light and
wiu miss me they say"
He answered. Choose 20 tonight II
must
Miss you or they"
1 pleaded for time to b given,
He said. SIS II hard to decide7
1t win not seem hard in heaven to
have followed the steps Of your
guide"
Tue Late. Tnen.
When yen get TO glory you win be-
moan the fact that you dida't have Q
chance to try II over. 1t 10 up to
you now while you are in the flesh.
You won't have any ether opportunity
to do your best for Jesus Christ and
Tor hts truth
wha, about the direct blessings, how
30 ] know that God VIII hear and an
swer prayer? Well, IL ought to be
enough for you to have God to say
that he will Why should you question
0odf II the president would make you
a promise wouldn't you believe TT Ger
tainly. Don't you think he would feel
himself duty bound. to keep itr
bound when you question . motive he
has promised to answer That ought
to be enough.
There In something tells mo that
am going to live forever. We are hu-
mans. and II we are failures we are
the only sailorss in the universe, Veg
citation Is not failure. There is the
argument from tho standpoint OF in
stinct
Who tells the birds to come back and
build their nests up here: who tells
them our frosts are over and the dow
ers and the trees are blooming and
budding: who tells the birds to leave
here and go South: who tells the riv-
ers to freeze: who tells the birds of
their migration7
Who tells the Wild geese to leave
nipegf Go up to Alaska and hatch your
young. Who tells the plants to burst
outf Who tells the grass to turn
green. and the leaves! Does God do
that and then blast 1t with ten below
ycror No. he wouldn't do that He
wouldn't disappointed the birds and
nature.
who tei,s you to Put potatoes in
the ground, VINO tells you to plant
corn and pun 1t and thu lettuce and
onions? Does God do that and then
blast wit with zero WEATHER. God
does not disappoint you. Certainly he
Ia not going to disappoint humanity.
Who tells the bee to leave that hive
and go yonder to the clover patch. and
then come back to the hive? And you
can move II nifty feet and he viii go
back to where that hive was and stay
there. And he will go three or four
miles and leave that clover field and
go straight to that hive You move
that hive and ne will go right there
and he will and II.
Who tells the sGutrrefs Take tho
squirrel that 10 born up north this
spring and take It down to Florida this
fall and II won't lay up nuta Who tells
that squirrel they don't have any win
ter in Florida7 Who tells the squirrel
that we have winter here and they
have got to lay up nuts'
Where do they get all thatr Man
did not tell T. Instinct does It. Oh!
God does not disappoint a squirrel In
its instinct He does not disappotnt
the bird
Must the eyes Of my soul strain and
never see God? Must have n long
ing to live forever and have 1t disap-
pointedf So there Ii tho argument,
from the standpoint Of Instinct God
says HE WILL" and believe Him.
That 10 why I am a Christian. So
Why don't you believe GOD about
prayer?
And then II rs natural. God is
q personality, my friends. and so He
willis to help. He willis to bless. to do
these thingR
A man says. IF God Is good''--
why do you put the question mark?
He said: III God is good and God
Is great and God Ia disposed to bless
us, why docs He require us to ask ?"
Oh. that makes me sick. 1t Is like
any other argument: yon can run It
ing TO ana Come excuse for not being
decent for God.
I haven't any respect for such peo-
pie, but I will try to help you.
Now, why does He require us to
ask? First IL this: Il II natural. 1t
il In accord with the nature Of God
Il is like a parent and a child II Is
because that child asks that brings
that child to recognize IT'S relationship
to ycu and it, dependence upon your
Judgment.
why do they ask7 Because they
recognize your superior Judgment and
they get your opinion on II. All right,
we are all children Of God. Do I
know more than God? Certainly not.
When a child begins to realize that it
DOES not need its parents 1t needs a
slipper on any good. convenient place
to land
Therefore It il In accord with ma
ture 1t brings me to realize my de-
pendence on God. God loves mo.
became a child Of God through faith.
A parent would not tell a child any,
thing THAT would bring disease or kill
the child. know God would not tell
me to DO anything that Is not for my
good. When God tells me to pray
and be = Christian, I know 1t is for
my own good. It IL natural, just like
q parent and child.
An A0ynnfARdA