Pride and Vain Thoughts
79
Have you both studied how much you could do to honor your
Redeemer upon the earth? Oh, no! You have been pleased to honor
yourselves and to receive honor of others, but to study to show your-
selves approved of God has not been the burden of your lives. Religion,
pure and undefiled, with its strong principles, would prove to you an
anchor. In order to answer life’s great ends you must avoid the example
of those who are seeking for their own pleasure and enjoyment, and
who have not the fear of God before them. God has made provisions
[84]
for you that are ample. He has provided that if you comply with the
conditions laid down in His word, and separate from the world, you
may receive strength from Him to repress every debasing influence
and to develop that which is noble, good, and elevating. Christ will be
in you “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The will,
the intellect, and every emotion, when controlled by religion, have a
transforming power.
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God.” Here is a principle which lies at the foundation of
every act, thought, and motive; the consecration of the entire being,
both physical and mental, to the control of the Spirit of God. The
unsanctified will and passions must be crucified. This may be regarded
as a close and severe work. Yet it must be done, or you will hear the
terrible sentence from the mouth of Jesus: “Depart.” You can do all
things through Christ, who strengtheneth you. You are of that age
when the will, the appetite, and the passions clamor for indulgence.
God has implanted these in your nature for high and holy purposes.
It is not necessary that they should become a curse to you by being
debased. They will become this only when you refuse to submit to
the control of reason and conscience. Restrain, deny, are words and
works with which you are not familiar by experience. Temptations
have swayed you. Unsanctified minds fail to receive that strength and
comfort that God has provided for them. They are restless and possess
a strong desire for something new, something to gratify, to please
and excite the mind; and this is called pleasure. Satan has alluring
charms to engage the interest and excite the imagination of the youth
in particular, that he may fasten them in his snare. You are building
upon the sand. You need to cry earnestly: “O Lord, my inmost soul
convert.” You can have an influence for good over other young people,
or you can have an influence for evil.