God.

Others expect virtue to be as easy as it is beautiful. Religion should
conduce to one's comfort. They like incense, but not the smell of
brimstone. They would remain forever content on Tabor, but the dark
frown of Calvary is insupportable. Beautiful churches, artistic music,
eloquent preaching on interesting topics, that is their idea of
religion; that is what they intend religion--their religion--shall be,
and they proceed to cut out whatever jars their finer feelings. This is
fashionable, but it is not Christian: to do anything for God--if it is
easy; and if it is hard,--well, God does not expect so much of us.

You will see at a glance that this sort of a thing is fatal to the
sense of God in the soul; it has for its first, direct and immediate
effect to weaken little by little the faith until it finally kills it
altogether. Sloth is a microbe. It creeps into the soul, sucks in its
substance and causes a spiritual consumption. This is neither an acute
nor a violent malady, but it consumes the patient, dries him up, wears
him out, till life goes out like a lamp without oil.



CHAPTER XVII.
WHAT WE BELIEVE.

OUR first duty to God, and the first obligation imposed upon us by the
First Commandment is Faith, or belief in God--we must know Him.

Belief is solely a manner of knowing. It is one way of apprehending, or
getting possession of, a truth. There are other ways of acquiring