for the life to come.

But this desire and effort after a knowledge of God and obedience to His
will do not come without a struggle. We are strange and mysterious
creatures, having within us a nature that is most susceptible to
temptations, to do evil. Every one of us is conscious of a struggle
constantly going on in our hearts and lives between evil and good. The
temptations to selfishness, greed, unkindness, untruthfulness,
irreverence, indolence, are constant and severe until we have by long
conflict and repeated victory habituated our hearts to choosing the
right. Yet every victory over self and temptation helps us toward that
spiritual attainment which will in time enable us to say, with the sweet
psalmist of Israel: "The Lord is the portion of my soul; the Lord is the
strength of my heart; the Lord is my light and my salvation."

Most usually the heart first turns toward God with deep earnestness
through sorrow. There are many griefs and burdens of life which cannot
be alleviated or lightened in any way except by spiritual comfort and
help. And this spiritual comfort and help are among the deepest
realities of life. There is a strength, a happiness, a peace and a
support in sorrow which the world can neither give nor take away. How
priceless a blessing to possess! The saddest, darkest, most suffering
life can be irradiated and uplifted and enriched by this spiritual
blessing. The most fortunately circumstanced life may be made poor by
its absence. Dean Stanley tells us of a sister who for perhaps forty
years was a constant sufferer from spinal disease, and during that
period almost constantly confined to her couch. Yet her countenance was
irradiated with cheerfulness, and she seemed to inspire everyone who
came near her with comfort, and with ardor and enthusiasm for goodness.
Such examples are not rare. Every community knows some person or persons