It is but too likely that, if a man does not 'fear the Lord' from 'his
youth,' he will never fear Him. Thank God, there is no time nor
condition of life in which the wicked man cannot 'forsake his way,' or
'the unrighteous man his thoughts,' and 'turn to the Lord' with the
assurance that 'He will abundantly pardon.' But it is sadly too plain
to observation, and to the experience of some of us, that obstacles
grow with years, that habits and associations grip with increasing
power, that in all things our natures become less flexible, the supple
sapling becoming gnarled and tough, that a middle-aged or old man is
more inextricably 'tied and bound by the cords of his sins,' than a
young one is.
Sin lies to us by first saying, 'It is too soon to be religious,' and
then it lies to us by saying, 'It is too late.'
The inclination diminishes.
The Gospel long heard and long put aside, loses power.
Contrast the beauty of a course of life, begun on the same lines as
those on which it ends, and being like 'the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the meridian of the day,' with one which gave the
greater part of its years to 'the world, the flesh, and the devil,' or
at least to one's godless self, and the dregs of it only to God.