"What can it mean, my dear Frances, but parallel with those, 'If thy
right eye offend thee, pluck it out if thy right hand offend thee, cut
it off. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, than,
having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire,' Matt.
xvvi. 29, 30. ii. 8, 9. It means that spirit which will sacrifice the
lust of the heart, and deny itself, though it should be a present
mortification. The _throat_ of an inordinate or diseased appetite is to
be cut, and its carnal desires crucified."
"Was it not something of this kind that Isaac fell into when he sent
Esau to hunt venison, and make him savory meat, such as his soul loved?
Gen. xxvii. 4."
"Yes, William, and this very thing he desired presented the temptation
by which he was deceived. And you might have mentioned, too, how Esau
himself yielded to his appetite, and sold his birthright for a mess of
pottage, Gen. xxv. 29. When we yield to these propensities of the
flesh, we lay a snare for our own souls, and expose our weakness to an
adversary, ever ready to take advantage of our infirmity. It is a
common fault in children to desire with greedy appetite such food as is
pernicious, and to wish for more than even a mouth opened wide
requires--till at length they learn to lust after _forbidden_ things.
And what does it lead to? Frances, you began to pick and steal, and
your own iniquity chastised you:--you were sick and ill."
Frances hid her face in her frock.
"Ah mamma," said Anne, "I shall be afraid of wanting anything, as I
used to do; and I hope I shall remember how much better you can feed
me, than I can feed myself."
"I wish I may too," said William. "If Eve had but waited for the Lord
only to fill her mouth, she would not have eaten that which brought sin
and death."
"Tell me, Frances, if you feel the force of all we have learnt from the
little birds, and your own mistaken idea of what would be good for
them?"
Frances did not answer.
"But you know, my child, you were guilty of another fault; when the
medicine was offered, which was likely to do you good,--you _refused_
to open your mouth, and was long before you would let me fill it, so
you see we must leave it all to the Lord to give us much or little,
bitter or sweet, just as he knows to be _convenient_ for us."
"Yes," Mary said, "these poor little birds will long teach us a lesson.
We may imitate them to open our mouth wide, but we must be warned by
what happened to them, to let the _Lord_ only fill them."
"Let us look again at the nest." They approached, and frightened the
mother so, that she flew off.
"See, see! William," said Anne, "the two little things are opening
their mouths again. O how beautiful! let us never meddle with them any
more. Only remember, 'Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.' Now,
Frances, do not cry any more: come, we will bury these little dead
birds."
Frances wiped her eyes, and Anne giving her a kiss, they went away to
do as she proposed. After they had made a little coffin, they put the
two little dead birds into it Then William got a spade, and dug a grave
just large enough to hold the little coffin: and, as he lowered it into
the grave, Mary wiped away the tears which gathered in her eyes. When
William had filled up the grave, they all returned to their mamma, who
said--
"My dear children, do not let us dismiss this interesting subject
without a closer application. My dear Frances, come near to me, and
hear what I have to say."
Frances drew near with some timidity. Conscious of her faults, and
expecting the word of truth to be directed to her heart, she had at
that moment rather have escaped from it. But her mamma, taking her
hands into hers, and sitting down on a garden stool that was nigh, she
felt that the words would be words of love, aid her heart beginning to
soften, the tears were ready to flow, for she knew that her mamma would
speak to her of Jesus and of his blood, which was shed for sinners.
"Do you know quite well, my child, that among the fruits of the Spirit
enumerated, Gal. v., there is one called TEMPERANCE?"
"Yes, mamma," she replied.
"Are you not also conscious, my dear child, that your desire of
indulging your appetite is quite contrary to this holy fruit?"
"Yes, mamma."
"Then what are you to do in order to overcome the one, and to obtain
the other?"
"I must ask the Lord Jesus to give me the Holy Spirit."
"Yes, my child, to him must you come for all help, and he will not send
you empty away. Here is a subject on which you must indeed open your
mouth wide, in earnest prayer, and wait on the Lord for his gracious
answer. 'Ask, and ye shall receive,' he says, and after showing how an
_earthly_ father will act towards his child that asks for bread, how
does he conclude?"
"He says, 'How much _more_ will your _heavenly_ Father give the _Holy
Spirit_ to them that ask Him!'"
"Will you then, my dear Frances, profit by this gracious instruction,
and will _you_ ask for the Holy Spirit?"
"Yes, mamma, I will try."
"Do you believe the Lord will give you the Holy Spirit when you ask?"
"He _says_ He _will_, mamma."
"That is enough, my child; what the Lord says is yea and amen. It is
written, 'Hath he said, and will he not do it?'"
"Yes, mamma, I know God is _Truth_, He cannot lie."
"But you know also, my dear Frances, when the Holy Spirit is given, he
takes up his abode in the heart, and he _acts_ in the soul, and will
not dwell there without producing his holy fruit; and tell me now what
is the fruit you particularly want to overcome this sinful desire of
appetite which prevails in your heart."
"Is it not _temperance_, mamma?"
"Yes, and if He comes into your heart, he will give it you, and
moreover teach you to _repent_ of your sins; for consider, my Frances,
sin is an offence against him, and needs to be repented of. Do you
repent?"
"I am very sorry, mamma."
"But repentance is more than sorrow; it will make you ashamed before
God, and make you feel yourself vile; and it will also make you
carefully watchful against the temptation; it will make you anxious to
quit the sin, and clear your soul from its power; it will make you
indignant against it, and urge you to seek that strength from the
Spirit, which will resist the sin, and overcome it. When, therefore,
you ask for the Holy Spirit, be _willing_ that the Lord should _fill_
you. Be ready to _exercise_ the mighty gift for _all_ his offices, to
convict you of sin, to lead you to true expectations, and to strengthen
you to overcome your sin, giving you that grace which is specially
opposed to the leading sin of your heart."
"I wish I had this gift; for my sin makes me very unhappy: I know it is
wrong."
"Do not stop in _wishes_, dear child, go and _pray_; '_Ask_, and ye
shall receive.' 'Open your mouth wide' in the full utterance of all
your distress, and of all you desire; pray for what you _want, name_
it; pray for _repentance_, and for _temperance_. Pray that the _lust of
your appetite_ may be _crucified_, and pray that the blood of Jesus,
the Lamb of God who taketh away sin, may be sprinkled upon your guilty
soul, and cleanse it from all sin. He giveth liberally, and upbraideth
not. He is angry only when we neglect his promises and his gifts.
"It is not long since, dear Mary, that you and I conversed on this
text, 'My people would not hearken to my voice, Israel would none of
me: _so I gave them up to their own heart's lusts_,' Psa. lxxxi. A
dreadful judgment! what would become of _you_, dear Frances, if you
were given up to the dominion of your appetite?"
"But, my dear mamma," Mary said, "do you not remember the end of that
psalm, what a sweet verse there is?"
"Repeat it, dear girl, and let little Frances hear it!"
"'_Had_ they hearkened and obeyed, then should he have fed them with
the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I have
satisfied them.'"
"O my children," said their mamma, "here is spiritual food for the
spiritual appetite! You know who is the Bread of Life, and who is the
Rock of our salvation. Turn unto him your whole heart, and though you
feel the burden of the body of this death, you shall soon be able to
thank God, who, through Jesus Christ our Lord, will deliver you."
"Poor Esau repented too late,
That once he his birth-right despis'd,
And sold for a morsel of meat,
What could not too highly be priz'd.
How great was his anguish when told,
The blessing he sought to obtain
Was gone with the birth-right he sold,
And none could recall it again!
He stands as a warning to all,
Wherever the gospel shall come!
O hasten and yield to the call,
While yet for repentance there's room!
Your season will quickly be past;
Then hear and obey it to-day,
Lest when you seek mercy at last,
The Saviour should frown you away.
What is it the world can propose?
A morsel of meat at the best!
For this are you willing to lose
A share in the joys of the blest?
Its pleasures will speedily end,
Its favor and praise are but breath;
And what can its profits befriend
Your soul in the moments of death?
If Jesus, for these, you despise,
And sin to the Saviour prefer,
In vain your entreaties and cries,
When summon'd to stand at his bar:
How will you his presence abide?
What anguish will torture your heart,
The saints all enthron'd by his side,
And you be compelled to depart.
Too often, dear Saviour, have I
Preferr'd some poor trifle to thee;
How is it thou dost not deny
The blessing and birth-right to me?
No better than Esau I am,
Though pardon and heaven be mine
To me belongs nothing but shame,
The praise and the glory be thine."