1884 



GLEAXJNG8 IN BEE CULTUliE. 



good in business circles ; good for all yoii 

 jiromise, or good for all you undertake. 



A good many years ago a young man came 

 into my store with iiis mother, and wanted 

 to buy "a watch. 1 did not know him, but I 

 knew his father and mother to be good 

 Christian people. The watch was never paid 

 lor. In fact, he turned out badly, and failed 

 to pay a great many of his good friends. His 

 lelati'ves all expressed sorrow for the course 

 he had taken, and there tlie matter dropped, 

 (^uite a miin)»er of yeais afterward 1 heard 

 this man was converted ; 1 heard, also, tliat 

 he had become an active, working Christian ; 

 and tinally 1 met him at a Sabhatli-s( liool 

 convention. lie was to deliver an address, 

 or take some part in tiie proceedings, as 1 

 was also. I thought 1 liad a good deal of 

 grace, and perhaiis an unusual degree of 

 charity for trying occasions; l)nt yet, dear 

 friend's, that man's i)rol'ession of Christian- 

 ity, while he did not pay Ids debts, or say a 

 word to anylxuly he wa"s owing in regai'd to 

 them, was almost more tlian 1 could stand. 

 It threw a chill and damper over me; and 

 although I knew it was wrong, I had one of 

 the liardest battles to light I have ever had 

 to try to remendjer that it was my duty to I 

 Iveep my heart right before God, ho matter 

 what this man did. 1 have met him fre- 

 (juently, and talked pleasantly with him ; 

 but some way I can not make it harmonize. 

 You may say I should have gone to him and 

 talked the matter overwitli him. I presume 

 1 should ; and I have decided I had better 

 do so ; and yet I am afraid I shall not be 

 able to discuss the matter in a Christian-like 

 spirit. That old little prayer wells up while 

 I think of it—" Lord, help.'' 



I have not told this little incident because 

 1 wanted to talk altout anybody, or tind 

 fault ; in fact, I hope the friend of whom I 

 have been speaking will not see this, be- 

 cause I do not want to hurt his feelings 

 uselessly ; but it brings up so vividly this 

 l)oint in' tlie (Uu'istian lives of all of us that 

 1 have chosen it. Do not, I pray you, feel 

 hard toward those who i)rofess to love the 

 Lord, and yet can not pay tlieir debts, or who 

 tliink they can not pay, "if you choose ; but 

 let us rather look into our o\vn iiearts and see 

 if tiiere is any thing in our lives in tins mat- 

 ter of debt and credit that may stiuuble any 

 one. Let us resolve that the foremost thing 

 of our lives sluM be to seek lirst the king- 

 dom of God and his righteousness ; and if 

 it shall so happen that one of the readiest 

 ways of bringing men into tlie kingdom is 

 to see that we " owe no man any thing but 

 love one to another."' let us set about doing 

 it with all our might and main. 



A new convert should be a great power in 

 the community in which he lives, in bring- 

 ing souls to Christ, and he should be able to 

 feel that he can approach every acquaint- 

 ance on this subject. But, dear friends, how 

 (■((11 he do this with tlie consciousness in his 

 lieart that there are tliose whom he does not 

 flare to meet, and whom lie does not dare 

 look in the face V Did you ever realize liow 

 it cripples one's power of doing good by be- 

 ing obliged to hang down his head when he 

 l)asses certain individuals— or, if he does not 

 hang down his head, to feel \u his heart that 



he ought to do so V The spirit of Christ bids 

 men to be open, fearless, and frank ; and 

 nothing so ett'ectually quenches this spirit, 

 or chills or drives it away, as these things of 

 which 1 have been speaking. 



But, what shall a new convert do, you may 

 ask, if he finds himself in this predicameutV 

 Suppose he has been wild, and "sowed wild 

 oats,'' as the expression goes— lias deliber- 

 ately incurred debt liere and thereuntil it 

 is almost hopeless for him to think of pay- 

 ing it all. lie has confessed his siiis 

 to his Savior; has i-enounced the old 

 life, and started in the new ; what shall he 

 do about tliese debts ? There is an old say- 

 ing, that ■•there is no use ciying over spilled 

 milk ;'' l»ut I do not (piite believe that say- 

 ing ; 1 do believe it does us good to cry hard 

 over spilled milk, or over things that seem 

 almost as hojielcss of recovery as milk i)oured 

 out on the ground. Whenever I meet a case 

 of this kind, or talk with one who has started 

 for a better life, how often I feel like saying, 

 "Why, oh why, my dear friend, did you 

 push ahead in this foolhardy way, buying 

 things you did not want, or that you could 

 have got along without, very well V W^hy did 

 you, with your eyes wide open, make" this 

 task so hopeless of getting back on to solid 

 ground, where every honest man should 

 stand ?" 



Now, then, as it is alrcadij done, what 

 shall he do about it ? Tlie first thing to do is 

 to go to every one he owes, no matter how 

 many there be, or how^ large the amount ; put 

 it down in a book, or imt it into notes, and 

 take full account of both principal and in- 

 terest. Do not ask them to " throw oft' " 

 some, but treat the whole matter as if you 

 were sound and straight, and able to "pay 

 all ; get it all right before you, in correct 

 business shape ; then with the burden in 

 black and wliite right before your eyes, make 

 it a subject of prayer that (xod niay'help you; 

 and as fast as yt)u can, ])ay tnich one a little. 

 A Itlessing seeins to follow i)aying a little of 

 your indebtedness, even though tlie amount 

 be small ; and a bl(>ssing seems to follow in 

 undergoing privations, and in denying your- 

 selves when it is done for the sake of those 

 you owe, or for (Ihiisfs sake, if you please. 



People often excuse themselves for not 

 paying debts, by saying they have done the 

 best they could ; and when a man has done 

 the besthe can, he can not do any more. I 

 have got to feel, somehow, that tliis plea we 

 are often led to make, " I am doing the very 

 liest I can,'' is of itself an indication of a 

 wrong state of heart. In one sense we are 

 mnrr doing the best we can. W'hen our 

 souls are enlightened by llu; intluence of the 

 Holy Spirit, and we sit down and calmly con- 

 template these past lives of ours, it seems an 

 awful falsehood to say we have done the best 

 we could. We havt^ Avasted time when we 

 might have been earning money; we have 

 discussed and argued when we "might have 

 been saving souls ; we have foolishly Avasted 

 money for things we could liave easily gone 

 without; we have dishonored our "8avi<u- 

 when we might have been saving cmr fellow- 

 men. Where one lias really done great 

 things, compared with average lives, in 

 Christ's kingdom, he lias never any disposi- 



