The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-07-08

FjR&EAANM l do not partake.
But dainties?
This is different. Quite likely 1t Is bet
ter than the fare to which l am &C.
customed. To refuse to eat is to re-
ject something pleasant.
And so 1t is; the line must be
drawn between the pleasant, but
harmful and the less pleasant, but
holy. The Christian Is saved by One
and he follows One whose ways ut
exactly into this portion of Scripture,
for he forfeited the sweet mOrsels and
the elaborate banquets, and accepted
the hunger and thirst by the way,
leading to the cross.
There are other dainties upon which
m may feed besides those Which are
pleasant to the appetite. Dainties of
landscape, dainties of apparel, dainties
of literature, dainties of abode. Not
many people possess all of these at
once and few people possess many of
them. But Christian people have met
the crisis In which they have settled
that there are things they are willing
W uO llllou wv obiy ohot sHNJ
have duly considered things they
would prefer to do without because
over against them Is something of
greater worth than they all. Happy
the man who has fully decided hat
Lazarus at the gate Is richer than the
man who fares sumptuously every day.
Lazarus has tomorrow stored away in
Tho eafntr Jonac{t how nf tho prQn no
of God, but for the man at whose gate
he lies, tomorrow spells everlasting
bankruptcy.
The children of Israel went after
the nations that were round about
them, concerning whom the Lord had
charged them that they should not
do like them" (II Kings 17:15.) The
Prophet Amos pictures them as a
people who "abound in superfluities."
Thus they claimed these cheap and
perishing things while they turned
from the sure covenant and the unfail-
ing providence of God. Through the
eye they saw and through the ear
they heard and through the lusts of
the flesh they went after the delusive
sights and songs and deeds eXempli-
fled by the idol w%orshipers in their
heighborhood. WI must guard against
the same sinful tendency today. Since
our Lord Jesus Christ paid the entire
debt and we receive His grace with
out money and without price, we must
consider that He does not save us that
we may lightly regard His will.
n IA ..lxaA .,.N r,ar A. (bvte
tian Is a pilgrim and a stranger on
the earth, a pilgrim journeylng home
and a stranger on a sphere where his
Lord was crucified. There is a vas
difference between our living in the
n~eighborhood and our allowing the
neighborhood, to live its God-defying
program In our souls.
What are those dainties when care
fully examined? Men risk all for
them, but the ardent quest is a de-
fusion. Do they imply indulgence of
appetite? What If with it is the SUI
loss of physical health? Is /. that
one hungers for fame? What If with
the ambition for distinction comes al
so the betrayal of the most enthusi-
astic flatterer of all those who urged
us on? Did you pay all for beauty ?
And did you with 1t become possessor
of the virus of incurable disease? But
these are only Illustrations of the
fact that the many dainties of the
wicked have fellowships from which
they never permanently part COM
pany. Happy the day when a man
draws the dividing line between good
and bad with flaming fire so that to
go down to the bad means to HIM that
he would have to pass through the
flame.
o, it is great to step over the line
that divides between things and Jesus.
Just to see Him with the eyes of the
heart until the glory of His face
shines upon the things men consider
dainties and reveals how easily they
decay or how quickly they lSave -. or
how great are the losses they bring
with them. But do not begin by trying
to cross that line. Begin by receiving
Jesus Christ. This moment it may be
forbidden dainties, but the next L: Is,
Jesus saves. The forbidden. dainties
Will ClulIu sOu Until you IetelNG Hin.
What you have may seem all attrac-
tive until He is yours.
But | have dainties of which the
workers of i~niquity cannot partake.
Have you never partaken of them ?
Then come to the feast. They will ap-
pear at their full value one day when
we who are in bodies of humiliation
now, shall find mortality swallowed
up of life" There IS the grace OF
God for us. No earthly field yields it
1t brings all the bounty: Love. JOY
peace, lo-g suffering, goodness, fdel
tty, meekness. temperance Such dain
ties. Come to the feast. Drop YOU
loaded basket as ii enroute to a picnic
ior here 'there is enough and t,
spare" What YOU can bring will per
lsh; what God provides never fails