Some of them, I think, actually made fast horses
serve as Gods. "Next we will put down 'tobacco.'" The teacher seemed to
shrink at this. "Put it down," said I, "many a man thinks more of
tobacco than he does of God. Well, then, we will put down 'rum.'" He
objected to this--didn't like to put it down at all. "Down with it. Many
a man will sell his reputation, will sell his home, his wife, his
children, everything he has, for rum. It is the God of some men. Many
here in Chicago will sell their present and then eternal welfare for it.
Put it down," and down it went. "Now," said I, "suppose we put down some
of the heavenly treasures. Put down 'Jesus' to head the list, then
'heaven,' then 'River of Life,' then 'Crown of Glory,' and went on till
the column was filled, and then just drew a line and showed the heavenly
and the earthly things in contrast. My friends, they could not stand
comparison. If a man just does that, he cannot but see the superiority
of the heavenly over the earthly treasures. Well, it turned out that the
teacher was not a Christian. He had gone to California on the usual
hunt--gold; and when he saw the two columns placed side by side, the
excellence of the one over the other was irresistible, and he was the
first soul God gave me on that Pacific coast.
Pages:
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207