The Secret of a Consistent Christian Life
The difficulty of living a consistent Christian life, which some persons complain of as if there were something of injustice in requiring it, has generally no other foundation than arises from trying to appear religious when one is not so. If one actually follows Christ, he finds royal companionship and the peace that passeth all understanding. He really passes from bondage to liberty, and all the burdens of life are not only made lighter, but they afford an ennobling discipline. But to take the name of Christ, yet not fully consent to become his disciple; to say that one is seeking a heavenly city while he is making all his investments in worldly possessions; in short, the attempt to serve God and mammon is what makes a religious profession perplexing. God says, "Give me thy heart." If the heart be given, the service is joyful. By one stroke, if one follows God's command, self is dethroned, and then all comes easy, and, as it were, natural. The simple recipe for a comfortable religious life is to be religious, not to make a pretense of being religious.—Sel.