1881 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



195 



§iur f CMi#. 



Choose you ibis day whom ye will serve. 



-Josh. 24:15. 



MY friends, the subject I would consider 

 to-day is, whether any one can be a 



• Cliristian who chooses ; or. if you 



please, can any one be a happy and joyous 

 Christian? In other words, can any one of 

 you at any time step out of your desponden- 

 cies and discouragements, and be happy, or, 

 at least, peaceful, right off, at once':' The 

 objections that will "be raised are, that it 

 would be literally Ininging heaven upon 

 earth, almost; and inasmuch as this is a 

 world of sin and sorrow, it can"t be done ; it 

 is impossible. If I read my Bible aright, 

 God did intend we should have a heaven 

 here on earth, if we would accept it; but if 

 we will not take it as a free gift, of course 

 we do not have it. I know this is talk, but 

 so is bee culture talk; and if you did not 

 verify it by practical work, it would end in 

 talk ; but if you try what you see recom- 

 mended by the different friends, and it 

 proves right and good, the result is some- 

 thing more than talk. I want you to try 

 what I say, and see if it does not prove good. 

 If I am correct, the dirticulties that lie in 

 our way in choosing a Christian life, or a 

 happy life, are much like the difliculties that 

 lie in the way of getting up in the morning. 

 Suppose we have decided in our own minds 

 that it is best for our health, best for our 

 work, and best for v>s in every way, to go to 

 bed at 9 o'clock, or earlier, and get up at 6 

 o'clock, or earlier. You have over and over 

 decided upon this course as the best; but 

 when 9 o'clock at night comes, there is, as 

 usual, so much on hand that you put it oif 

 and put it off, until it is 10, and perhaps 

 even ]l,and fiually you have only the old 

 stor>- over again, of IJeing late in getting up, 

 late at breakfast, late at work, and very 

 likely are made unhappy all the forenoon, 

 and possibly all day, just on account of this 

 lazy, shiftless fashion you have got into, and 

 have given way to, day after day. Joshua 

 said to the people, ■' Choose you this day 

 whom ye will serve." You have chosen lazy 

 inclinations, or at least you have chosen to 

 disobey your good sense and judgment and 

 wisdom. Suppose you should say you did 

 not choose it ; you chose the better waj'— but 

 Avhaty Dare you tell me you could not help 

 it? Do you not mean you icouhl not help ity 

 Did Joshua mean the i)eople were to choose 

 God on that day, and then go and serve 

 idols? Perhaps you will say that you have 

 tried going to bed at 9 o'clock, but'it wasn't 

 any use. for you just lay awake an hour or 

 more, while you might have been doing im- 

 portant work. Well, my friend, if this is 

 the case you are ready to get right down to 

 work ; but you want to first learn that your 

 feelings and your inclinations are one tliing, 

 and your calm and deliberate reason anoth- 

 er. Inclinations will continually clamor for 

 the old order of things, or a worse one, if 

 you give way to them, while calm reason 

 says it won't do, and has got to be stopped. 

 Heason,— or, if you choose^ you, yourself ,— 



the choosing, or deciding power that lies in 

 you, must assert its prerogative as ruler, or 

 ■'• boss of proceedings," and must take 

 charge of the body and inclinations. The 

 intelligent part of you that reaches up to 

 God, and that prevents you from being only 

 an animal, must step forth and take things 

 in hand, something like this: — 



" Look here, old fellow, you have got to 

 straighten up. I will put you to bed, and 

 there you are to lie ; and if you choose to lie 

 awake, do so ; but remember, you are to be 

 up with the light, sleep or no sleep ; and if 

 you lack sleep, you must learn to take it at 

 the appointed hour. I am boss of this busi- 

 ness, and know best, and you will certainly 

 soon learn to be as ready to sleep at 9 as you 

 now are at 11. God made the daylight and 

 sunshine on purpose for such bodies as you ; 

 and, besides being healthier, it is far cheap- 

 er. In bed you sliall go, and there you shall 

 lie during the hours that I, your lord and 

 master, have calmly and deliberately de- 

 creed are for your best and greatest good." 



Is that a new doctrine? " He that ruleth 

 his spirit is greater than he that taketh a 

 city." How would it answer, my friends, if 

 you should take exactly that course in re- 

 gard to all your habits in eating, drinking, 

 bathing, exercise, etc., as well as sleeping? 

 Have you any doubt of what the result 

 would "be? Well, to go a little further, 

 you may say that one day this higher 

 self decides one way, and another day in a 

 different manner. I'have before spoken of 

 this, but I think it is mostly a mistake. You 

 may be, for a day or more, biased in your 

 reason by a feeling of spite against some 

 one; but at such times you are to wait. 

 Kemember, feelings (especially personal feel- 

 ings) are not "• the boss;"' they are only ser- 

 vants. Your cool, calmer, and better self 

 tells plainly which course is best, in almost 

 all matters of life. Especially is this the 

 case with the heart that goes often to God 

 in prayer, and therefore seeks the highest 

 good of all mankind, rather than a solely 

 selfish good. When this purer part of us 

 comes out, this God part, as it were, and 

 stands free and clear from selfish feelings 

 and passions, all mankind think pretty near- 

 ly alike. In questions as to what is really 

 best for community, not only do all Christ- 

 ians pretty nearly agree, butso, also, do un- 

 believers, and people of every class, when 

 you can get them to be really honest. Even 

 the criminals in our prisons have good judg- 

 ment, and a clear understanding, on most 

 important questions. Although there are 

 thousands who do not pay their debts. I have 

 never seen a man yet who, when shown a 

 promise of his, in his own handwriting, 

 would ever argue that he ought not to keep 

 that promise. All mankind have a respect 

 for consistency; all love truth. Every one 

 of you, my friends, could write down a feAv 

 great principles for ruling your conduct in 

 life, and you would, if you took a look at 

 them in your calm moments, subscribe to 

 them every day in life. Xot only this, your 

 friends and neighbors would subscribe to 

 them also. Let us see how this little text 

 will work:— 



"Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before 

 God." 



