THE WISER AND BETTER CHOICE.
By H. N. Tolton
“THERE is not enough pleasure in religion for me.” “I must have some enjoyment before I settle down.” “Some day, when I am older, but not yet.” How often we hear these excuses given by the youth of to-day. And in this age when the truth of God has been turned into a lie, and men are serving the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:25) this specious reasoning is bearing its terrible fruit. Christ says (Matt. 13:15): “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Oftentimes in nature the real appears unreal, and the evanescent present is grasped instead of the eternal future; and the day is not far distant when the fires of God will make manifest which is real, which is lasting. So we find it in our world to-day. Men have partaken of the pleasures of sense until they look upon them as being the real, the desirable thing, and are willing to risk eternal welfare to obtain them. But God and they who are His see it differently. He has declared His purpose, not only to make an end of sin, but of its originator as well. Eze. 28:18, 19. How very many are willing “some day” to do the will of the Lord, but for a little, present, so-called enjoyment are continually thrusting that day farther and farther into the future, until desire ceases and a soul is lost! “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14); and they will be in that condition at the time when “sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thess. 5:3. The true enjoyment is defined as that which is beneficial or pleasurable use or possession; satisfaction; delight; pleasure. Is it a beneficial or pleasurable use or possession of your body to overwork it, to abuse it by dissipation, ministering to your so-called enjoyment, when it ought to be storing strength? And do you expect it to furnish the brain with proper nourishment under such treatment? Is it satisfaction when, after a night’s carousal, your whole nature revolts against your course, and the stomach is on fire? Is it a delight to know that you have used that which is the temple of the living God (1 Cor. 3:16), your body, to satisfy your lusts, and thereby dishonor God by your sins? Isa. 43:24. Is it a pleasure to know that you are not only misusing your body, but are destroying your brain as well? Unclean thoughts are the ruin of both body and brain. Clearly, these things are not true enjoyment, and we have all seen the sorrowful end of the career of those who have gone in pursuit of such “enjoyment.” So let us desert the phantom of this world, called enjoyment, and seek the true enjoyment which reaches its culmination in the world to come. Let us give up the unreal for the real. What greater pleasure could there be than to live as God wants us to. In doing so the mind will gain control of the body, and the body, being supplied with non-irritating, healthful food, will supply the brain, in turn, with healthful nutriment. Then we will gain a healthy mind, capable of lofty and deep thinking. Then God will be able to work through us, and “the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail.” Deut. 28:13. That which is to perish is not the real. Do not seek it. Those who do will finally be among that number that will call for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, and hide them from the burning glory of the coming King. Rev. 6:15, 16. But let us live so that when we see our Savior coming, we can look up and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isa. 25:9. For such all the glories of the eternal inheritance are held in store; for such that home of glory is prepared; and let us remember that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Cor. 2:9. Healdsburg, Cal. H. N. TOLTON.