SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 January 1922, Page 9

SUNDAY READING.

CHOICE. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”—Joshua, XXIV,, 15. (Rev. A. H. Collins, New Plymouth.) “Youth aspires and Manhood strives, but Age remembers.” Put it another way: The temptation of youth is to be rash, the temptation of mid-life is to be critical, the temptation of age is to be cynical. Youth says “I can,” mid-life says “You can’t,” old age says “It isn’t worth while.” The faith of youth is simple, untried, confiding; the faith of middle life has the strength and steadiness which come of trial, the faith of old age has the ripeness and the calmness that come with experience. The beauty of youth is its visions of greatness that may surely tje attained; the beauty of maturer years is fidelity in following the. dreams of youth; but the finest beauty of all is that of old age,' with the steadiness of middle life and the mellowing of years, added to the glow and freshness of youth. That is to say, the triunfph of old age is to keep a young heart. An old head on young shoulders is unnatural, but an old head and a young heart is a moral victory, and Joshua achieved it. With most men, the ideals of youth do not survive the fretting tooth of time, but Joshua mastered the temptation, and kept the flush and ardor of early days through the maturing and ageing of the fast’ flying years. A BOOK OF CHOICES. The Bible is a book of choices—the choice of Moses, the choice of Joshua, the choice of Ruth, the choice of Jesus Christ—and choosing is the highest act of life. No power of choice would mean no responsibility. We should be machines, not men. To choose the right is to use highest powers in highest ways. To choose evil is to prostitute our finest faculties, and trail our glory in the dust. It is God-like to choose the right; it is Satanic to make evil our chosen good. Note this, however. At the first, choice is an act, but in process of time the act of choice ibecomes the habit of choice, whether for good or ill. There are always influences at work to draw the soul away. If our choice be the choice of right, there are influences pulling in the opposite direction. Social custom, conventional opinion, the spirit of compromise, says “Don’t be too Puritanical,” “slacken off a bit,” “accommodate yourself to circumstances,” “you are at Rome, do as Rome does.” If your choice is evil, there will be protests from within. Conscience, the Bible, the Christian sentiment will say: “It isn’t right,” “you should pull up,” “you should swing round.” Thus’ the act of choice becomes the habit of choice, and we are compelled to choose, to choose what we have chosen. If our early choice of right is to stand up against the hack and pull of common life, heart and will must be braced by daily krieeling and renewal in the secret place of the Most High. We never drift into goodness. We never chance to be Christian. No man becomes a Saint in his sleep. Behind every true life lie definite and repeated acts of choice until the act of choice becomes the habit of choice. SPECIAL TIMES OF CHOICE. But there are special times of choice —hours when the wise man sits down to con over his previous choosings. The story of Israel records at least five such critical occasions. There was the choice of Moses-to be their leader back in the old slave days. There was the covenant made at Horeb. There was the re-tying ; of the old knot when Moses died. There was the renewal of the vow at Ebal and Gerizine, and now splendid Joshua calls for another ratification of the old bond. He knows human nature well enough to understand that repetition increases strength, and so he calls them to a threefold promise. It was easy to promise in the presence of victory and under the spell of his voice. But what of the future? The siege of evil is so stiff, and the hack of evil so fierce and long, that a man needs must have his purpose fused in the fire and hammered hard on the anvil of repetition. “Choose ye,” he seems to say, “choose ye, again and again, and vet again.” Then he sets up a memorial as permanent witness and an abiding inspiration, something to rally and steady them in days to come, and we need this no less than Joshua and his men. RENEW YOUR COVENANT. Some who hear me have never chosen once. Some chose once, but because the act was never changed into the- habit, you have drifted from your m&orings on the sea of doubt and carelessness. Oh! renew your covenant. Recall the days that are gone, the mercies, the escapes, the old teachers, the early promises, the old communion times, and choose yet again. Decide! Decide now. Somehow, T never read this passage without recalling Sir Noel Paton s great picture called “Choice.” The central figure on the canvas is a young warrior clad in a suit of mail. He is standing on a rockv height, out of which a winding flight’of steps has been carved. On his left hand is a fascinating woman of luxurious charms, holding above her head a crystal goblet of of ruddy wine. The face and form of the woman are full of seductive -grace, as with eye and hand she makes one last effort to regain influence over the young soldier. Amid the masses of her curling hair are crimson roses, whose full bloomed frailty heln to carry home the thought that—all such pleasures are fleeting at the Best. Two petals of a rose have fallen already, and the worm-eaten foliage, showing from beneath her hair, carry the suggestion further. On the woman’s hare arms are jewelled armlets of gold. Round her delicately shaped throat hangs a neck-, lace of coins. From her shoulders hangs an antique lute, and this, with the pose of her body, the expression of her face, and the flaming wine, make up a wonderfully realistic representation of the pleasures that tempt x from virtue. Around this evil genius hangs the darkness of despair, and beneath her feet vawns a gulf in which invisible fires are seen. In the foreground lies a faded poppy, which suggests Burns’ lines—

“Pleasures arc like poppies spread. You seize the flower, the bloom is

The lower left corner of the canvas represents an obscure nook occupied by a skeleton, whose bleached bones are partly covered by the clothes of a jester, and the Cap and bells which have fallen from his skull bear witness to the folly of those who fall a victim to the strange woman. Concealed from the young warrior is a dragon whose tail is

crushed under his foot. A look of horror mantles his face, as with resolute hand he thrusts the temptress away and struggles to gain the higher life. But the whole story is not yet told. For we are not only assailed by those who would destroy; we are ministered unto by those who would strengthen and save. Angels meet us on the road to ruin—angels in the guise of better thoughts and pure desires. This is represnted by the young warrior’s guardian angel. His armor glistens with the halo that surrounds her, and reflects the rainbow colors which caress her white wings. His right hand grasps hers with a determination which doubles back her little finger in the palm of his hand. His right fool is on an upward step, as with gentle persuasion she leads him towards that which is best and truest in life. From her eyes shines an expression of mingled contempt and pity for the bold temptress. A heavenly sweetness lights up an entranced countenance, which tells of purity and peace. The left hand of the angel rests gently on the shoulder of the Christian knight, and just above him shines the Star of Hope. The sky grows brighter and still more bright as the distance grows, and the pathway, which at the bottom is crumbling and insecure, becomes firmer with each fltoj-p upward. The briars which entangle the youth’s feet, and the tufts of grass which grow in the hollow of the surrounding rocks, give place to lilies which tell of eternal peace. It is a wonderful picture, the work of a consummate master, and a wonderful comment on the words.“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” TO-DAY THE TIME. I am sure you mean to choose some time. You would resent the suggestion that you have neither the will nor the power to choose. You mean to be Christian one day. But—- “ To-morrow and to-morrow and tomorrow Creep on this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time: And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.” Oh! “To-day if ye will hear His voice!” There is a point above Niagara Falls, known as “Past Redemptien Point,” for if a craft is carried past that, no human arm can successfully resist the momentum of the river. As .Joseph Cook says: “If a man sin long enough, he will sin longer.” “Behold, now is the accepted time, the glorious, the heroic time, the time of chivalry, of decision, of high resolve! Now is the day of salvation from vacillation and drifting, from hesitation and fear. Now it is the brave man chod'ses and the coward stands aside. I see no reason for supposing the mi**al conflict will grow easier or choice mor? simple a year hence, or fifty years hence. Decide! Decide now.