THE POWER OF A TEMPERATE LIFE.
By Amos R. Wells
It is one of God's kind laws, that obedience in a lower sphere always brings rewards in a higher sphere as well. To obey God in the body finds recompense in the body, to be sure, but also in the soul. No one can be temperate without getting a clearer eye for it, a finer skin, stronger muscles, and a steadier pulse. But then, too, it is impossible to be temperate and not see more of God, enjoy finer impulses, a quicker energy, a sturdier will. God always pays at compound interest, a splendid return for a trifling service. But is temperance a trifle, an easy matter, a slight task? Does it not rather imply self-control, strenuous self-denial? One would think so to hear some men talk, but they are the intemperate men. To one who has never used tobacco it is no hardship not to use it; he loathes it. A man who has never used alcoholic liquors can pass the doors of a thousand public houses, with not the least desire to enter them. Daniel and his friends ate their simple fare with a greater relish than the other youths had for their richer viands, and so they grew fairer to the eye. A truly temperate man can feel it a self-denial to be temperate; it is his choice and his pleasure. But suppose that, as is the case with all of us at some points, we have already begun to be intemperate? How can we make our way into the power of a temperate life? First, want to. No one can be cured of drunkenness of any kind until he really wants to be cured. He will remain a drunkard at heart until he takes the full cure, and ceases to look longingly after his sin, to see how close he can get to it without falling into it again. Second, keep away from temptation. If your sin came through the dance, do not even look at a dance again. If from gambling, do not touch a pack of cards, even when no stake is played for. If from strong drink, do not even read the papers that advertise liquors. Third, fill your life with heavenly interests. Hard work is one of the best specifics against intemperance. Fourth, and finally the first of all in importance, do not trust in your own strength. Appetite is a fearful thing. God is the only One that can master it, as any one may prove. There is no depth of sensuality, of passion, of folly and despair that His mercy can not sound. No drunkard can enter the kingdom of heaven, but the kingdom of heaven can enter any drunkard, if he will.