PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.
By M. M. Faulkner
In order to be Christians, all have a work to do. No one was ever a natural Christian. But it cannot be denied that nature has endowed some with more goodness than others; yet when we think that they who are naturally the most wayward are the ones with whom the battle goes hardest, and that the more earnest the struggle, so much more blessed will be the victory gained, we could not desire to have the work made easier, and thus the blessing experienced by the victory lessened. Many think they are pretty good Christians when there are no trials to meet; but when temptation comes, they easily yield. And those who have no conflicts with the enemy may conclude that they are not thorough Christians, and that Satan has no fears of their overcoming. We must learn perfect submission to the will of God, however widely it may differ from the way we had marked out; we must be passive in the hands of the Lord, if we would please him. Through affliction we may learn the lesson of submission, and many other graces may thus be gained that we are too slow to cultivate, until we learn them “beneath the rod.” Christian mothers, especially, have many little annoyances and vexations to bear daily, which teach the need of constant watchfulness, that no wrong word or act may be manifest. It is an encouraging fact that the overcoming of the least impatient feeling is remembered by Him who notes the sparrow’s fall, and that it is possible, through determined effort and the merits of a Saviour’s blood, to finish our work well, and enter into that rest that awaits the overcomer.