Religion in the form of thought and of emotion is intended to influence
life.
The ultimate result of God's revelation of Himself and of God's kingdom
among men is the conformity of our life and actions with the Will of
God. That is the test of our religion. Character and conduct are all
important. Here is a lesson for us all as to what the final issue of
religious profession ought to be. Knowledge of God, true reverent
thoughts of Him, submission in spirit to His kingdom--all these have for
their final sphere the full sanctification of the nature and the free,
spontaneous obedience of the life. We are all tempted to separate
between our consciousness and emotions of a religious nature, and our
daily life. Many a man is a good Christian in his heart, with real
religious feeling, but when you get him into the field of the world he
is full of sins. There must always be a disproportion in this world
between convictions, resolutions, and actions; we imperfectly live out
our principles; the force of gravity pulls down the arrow, and however
true the bow and careful the aim and strong the hand, its course will be
a curve, not a straight line.
Our machinery does not work in vacuo, and the force of friction and
atmosphere opposes it and brings it to a standstill. This must be; but
the discrepancy may be indefinitely lessened, and this prayer is a
prophecy and kindles a hope.