THE WILL.


Among the different faculties which God gave to man in his creation is
one called the _will_. It is because you have this faculty that you
become a responsible being. Before the first man and woman in the garden
of Eden God placed two laws--one was the law of obedience, and the
other, the law of disobedience. These were subject to their choice. They
could will to obey God and live forever, or will to disobey and die.
Before all men are placed two ways--one is called the way of life, and
the other, the way of death. These are subject to their choice.
Therefore, the will is called that faculty of the soul by which we
choose or refuse things.

The will is capable of cultivation. By the exercise of your will you can
refuse to do wrong things, and thus strengthen your will-power. Men have
attained extraordinary heights of morality by the exercise of the will
in right-doing and refusing to do wrong. This is noble and beautiful,
but there is something more noble still and more beautiful. The moral
man wills to do right because it is right, while the Christian wills to
do right because it is the will of God and pleases him.

Although man can not by the exercise of his will-power in right-doing
evolve into a Christian, the will plays an important part in the
formation of Christian character. It is true, the will is most usually
led by the affections of the heart; therefore the writer of Proverbs
said, "Out of the heart are the issues of life." The heart must,
however, get consent of the will before its desires are fulfilled. Here