Examine the Links by A. Delos Westcott

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Oct 21, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 35, No. 12.

Examine the Links.

By A. Delos Westcott

By A. Delos Westcott.

CHARACTER is the sum of all our habits, good and bad. It is like a chain, each habit constituting one link. Suppose you were going to be lowered into a deep mine by a windlass and chain. You are assured that the chain has been thoroly tested and found to be good and safe, excepting one link. That one link is made of poor material, and is cracked and weakened. Would you be willing to risk your life on that chain?—Of course you would not. Well, how about your chain of habits? Are there any unsound links in that chain? One weak link in the chain of character will plunge you into eternal ruin. Every sin you commit proves a flaw in one of the links. An uncontrolled temper shows a weak link. Do you take advantage of your neighbor in a trade?—There is another link with a flaw. Are you intemperate in eating or in drinking?—Another worthless link. God’s law is the detector of weak and worthless links. Read the Ten Commandments in Ex. 20: 1-17, with the comments of Christ and His apostles in Matt. 5: 17-32; 7: 12; 1 John 3: 15; 5: 1-3; etc., and you will begin to find the flaws in the dangerous links. Would you like to exchange the bad links for good ones? Remember that Christ stands ready to make the exchange. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." 1 John 3: 4, 5. "For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5: 21. See also Rom. 8: 3, 4; 3: 19-26; 5: 17-19. Reader, look well to the links.