Weeding Our Own Gardens.
By M.
We have been cheered and refreshed by the convocation of our annual camp-meeting in Massachusetts. It has truly been a time of refreshing. May we in New England profit by the counsel we there received. May it be to us as apples of gold in pictures of silver. We were made to feel that we have been too careless in regard to the matter of self-investigation; and that while our own little garden-plots are all choked up with the bramble and the thistle, we, quite unmindful of this sad need at home, reach out far beyond and take a large amount of labor upon ourselves in weeding and cultivating the gardens of our neighbors and friends, which are often in much better condition than our own. Let us, by the grace of God, remove all these noxious weeds, which, if not plucked up, will eventually shut us out of the kingdom. The camp-meeting has left a very solemn impression upon my mind. I feel more than ever before the importance and magnitude of the work we each have before us of fitting up our lives to be in perfect harmony with that immutable law by which we are to be judged in that great and terrible day when it will be said to so many, “I never knew you; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” May we each examine our own lives with far more attention, and greater severity, than we have ever been led to search the lives of those around us. Let us take heed that we be not deceived into overlooking any little pet sin, which, however small, will be sufficient to debar us from the companionship of Jesus and his angels. When we attempt to change our course of life, we are too apt to take an overwhelming burden upon ourselves, by looking into the future for a time to begin, and also by summing up the vast amount we have to overcome. The time is now; but the Christian warfare is first a battle and then a march, as Sr. White has so truly remarked, and we can only live one day at a time; and when that day is past, it will be a witness either for or against us in the Judgment. Upon rising each morning, we should resolve, with the help of God, to place a strict surveillance over our thoughts and acts for just that one day; and then, as night comes on, look over the day’s work carefully and prayerfully, noting where we have gained, and where failed; thus letting each day as it passes be an experience to aid us in living each succeeding day better and more acceptably in the sight of our Heavenly Father. The motto, “Never cross a bridge until you come to it,” seems very applicable here. By living one day at a time, instead of having a care for a whole week or month in the future, we can much lighten our burden, and render victory more certain of attainment. If we have not been making the spiritual advancement that we should, we must arouse ourselves at once, as the message is rapidly going forward, and will continue to advance, whether we stand still or not; for God, and not man, has the lead of this great work, and the fields are fast ripening for the harvest. May our zeal from henceforward be earnest and sure, that we may stand justified before our Lord when he comes to make up his jewels. M.