Alexander McLaren says:
I once heard that if you take a bit of phosphorus and put it
upon a slip of wood and ignite the phosphorus, bright as the
blaze is, there drops from it a white ash that coats the wood,
and makes it almost impossible to kindle the wood. And so, when
the flaming conviction laid upon your heart has burnt itself
out, it has coated the heart, and it will be very difficult to
kindle the light there again.
(579)
=Conviction as a Foundation=--See HUMAN NATURE, INSECURITY OF.