January, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



49 



Well, friends, how are we .fffing" to go 

 about it to become better men, and women 

 than we used to be unless somebod}- is kind 

 enough to tell us of our faults and besetting 

 sins? As a rule we shall never recognize 

 them unless somebody is kind enough to call 

 our attention to them. 



Years ago I read a fable to the effect that 

 everybody carries with liim two saclvs — one 

 always in front and the other always be- 

 hind, strapped to his back. As he goes 

 along he notes the faults of liis neighoors 

 and puts them into the sack right before 

 hiiin. His own faults he throws over his 

 shoulder into the sack behind where he soon 

 forgets all about it, because he cannot see 

 them. The faults of his neighbors are right 

 before his face where he sees them con- 

 stantly. Now, I did not know until quite 

 recently that the good old Bible tells us 

 exactly what to do in order that we may be 

 better men and women than we have been 

 in yeai"s that are past and gone. It is one 

 of the little texts that comie to me every 

 now and then as if it Avere wi-itten across 

 the sky in letters of gold. I have read the 

 139th Psalm a good many times; yes, and 

 T liave heard read the two concluding verses, 

 but T did not think much about it. I tliink 

 it was, perhaps, in the nighttime when I 

 was considering this verj' matter of being a 

 better man than I had been, that these pre- 

 cious A^rses came suddenly up before my 

 mental vision — " Search me, God, and 

 know my heart; trj^ me, and know my 

 thoughts; and see if there be any wicked 

 way in me. and lead me in the way ever- 

 lasting." That was DaA-id's prayer, away 

 back ages ago; and even if he was, on 

 one occasion, a sinful and wicked man, 

 these verses imply that he had repented ; 

 and, oh what a repentancie thati must have 

 been! Recognizing his evil nature when 

 unrestrained by the grace of God, be gives 

 voice to those beautiful words. Dear read- 

 er, can you on bended knee unite with me 

 in saying, " Search me, God '"? and then, 

 again, " Try me '"? That would mean sub- 

 ject me to temptation and see whether I 

 should come out ^actorious; and that. final 

 thought, " and see if there be any \vicked 

 Avay in me." 



I have just been getting beans from my 

 war garden. I thrashed tliem out, and then 

 poured them from one big pan to another 

 out in the wind. After I had got thru Mrs. 

 Root picked them over. If I take great 

 i^ains and make a good job of it she has 

 ^•pvy little trash to pick out except the 

 lipaiis that have become stained or colored 

 by (he abundant rains we have been having. 

 Well, after I am ready to submit them to 

 her scrutiny, and spread them out, I look 



them over very carefully to 9?e if there is 

 anything I have ovei-looked. Now in a 

 similar way David prays that the Holy 

 Spirit may spread out his inmost thoughts 

 and look them over, and see if there be any 

 " wickedness " that he himself has over- 

 looked. 



Suppose, dear friends, the whole wide 

 world should make Da\ad's prayer their 

 own. Can you — can any of us — conjecture 

 what would happen ? Suppose not only the 

 " coal barons " and the grain speculators 

 should ask God to point out to them their 

 shortcomings, but suppose also the farmers, 

 the publishers— yes, even the publishers of 

 our daily papers — should go to hear Billy 

 Sunday or some other evangelist, and should 

 honestW get down on their knees and ask 

 God to see if there is anything unneigh- 

 borly in their lives or conduct. Why, it is 

 a joke to suggest it; and yet, my good 

 friends, we are all human and all selfish — 

 every last one of us. If you are, each and 

 all, as bad and wicked as your old friend 

 A. I. Root (unless it be by fits and starts) 

 5'ou can honestly unite with me in saying, 

 " May God have mercy on the poor sinful 

 ' bunch ' of all of us." 



Dear friends, I am dictating this on the 

 8th day of October. As I do not have any 

 stenographer down in my Florida home, and 

 as I am often so busy down ther'e that I do 

 not get time to send in a Home paper, it 

 occurred to me to dictate several ahead of 

 time; and this one may possibly appear in 

 the January number. If it does, it will 

 suggest to you a way to start out the new 

 year so that you can say not only to your 

 fellow-men but to the gi-eat heavenly Fa- 

 ther also, " I honestly b?'lieve I am a better 

 man (or woman) than I used to he.'' 



(The sequel to the above Home paper will 

 be fotmd in our issue for February.) 



SOMETHING ABOUT " ENLISTING. 



Evei-y little while since that Home paper, 

 the question keeps coming up again, " For 

 whom are you working?" Some good 

 friend has just sent me a little tract that 

 just "hits the spot." Here it is: 



SITKGEON'S LAST SERMON. 



The closing characteristic words of Mr. Spurgeon's 

 last sermon on June 7, 1891, were as follows: 



" What I have to say lastly is this: How greatly 

 I desire that you who are not yet enlisted in my 

 Lord's band would come to him because you see what 

 a kind and gracious Lord he is. Young men, if 

 you could see our Captain you would go down on 

 your knees and beg him to let you enter the ranks 

 of those who follow him. It is heaven to serve 

 Jesus. I am a recruiting sergeant, and I would 

 fain find a few recruits at this moment. Every man 

 must serve somebody ; we have no choice as to that 

 fact. Those who have no master are slaves to them- 

 selves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan 



