LIVING AFTER THE FLESH.
By E. GOODRICH
A CERTAIN well-informed, intelligent minister of the gospel, while preaching a discourse from the words, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1), related in substance the following anecdote. While on his circuit visiting from house to house, inquiring into the spiritual welfare of his flock and neighbors, he called upon a certain lady somewhat advanced in life and one who had been for years a professor of religion. He found her sitting by the fire-place smoking her pipe, apparently in trouble and deep study. She had been weeping. There were evidences of want and a great lack of thrift about the house. The family consisted mainly of husband, wife, and several nearly men-grown boys, all of whom used tobacco. The family were poor; they had always been poor; and to add to their troubles a rich, money-lending, money-grabbing neighbor, who had mortgaged their little farm, was about to foreclose said mortgage, and cause them suffering. This was the cause of her recent weeping. At first, the minister said but little, but sat in comparative silence listening to the woman's tale of woes. After she was through he turned to her and said, “Well, sister, there is one thing about it, your weeping will do no good. It will neither soften the hard heart of your neighbor, nor will it give you peace of mind or supply your needs. But if yourself and husband and boys would only throw away your pipes and tobacco, in a few years you would save enough to buy a farm and be out of debt.” But the woman in reply said, “You would not deprive us of all the comfort we take in this world, would you?” As though the Christian could find more comfort in the bowl of a pipe or the bottom of a tea-cup, than in the blessed hope of the gospel and the contemplation of divine things. And it is a matter to be greatly feared that many who profess religion and have a fair outside and a form of godliness are living more after the flesh than walking after the Spirit. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, are so bewitching and enchanting, and apparently so harmless, that we soon fall in love with the world, lose our spirituality, and are seeking enjoyment in the things of this life more than in those things that pertain to another life.