Use Oil by Dr. Babb

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 10, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 35.

Use Oil.

By Dr. Babb

I WANTED to drive an iron bar through a piece of timber. I bored a hole of the right size, but the bar was rusty, and the hole was rough. I made slow progress, and was beginning to split the wood. Then I thought of the oil can. I oiled the bar; I poured oil into the hole; a few blows of the hammer sent the iron into its place. The oil had not diminished the size of the bar, nor enlarged that of the hole. It had only relieved the friction. It had smoothed both surfaces. A few drops of oil were more effective than many blows of the hammer. How slow some good people are to learn this simple lesson! They take hold of an important enterprise with great zeal. They are immensely earnest, and even morbidly conscientious. Everybody ought to see it just as they do, and whoever does not is hammered at without mercy. Such uncharitable zeal provokes opposition. It excites all the friction of the natural heart. Men will not appreciate the truth presented when they are repelled by the spirit in which it is presented. Let the reformer be careful to have plenty of oil. Let him speak the truth in love.—Dr. Babb.