68. Worldliness

Worldliness

SNARES.—Hunters dig pits in the earth, then cover them over, and place a bait near them to attract the prey, that they may venture upon the treacherous place and fall in. Thus the Devil makes this world his fatal vault, which he strews over with pleasures and delights; the way seems smooth, but it is slippery.

SLAIN THOUSANDS.—As you love your souls, beware of the world: it has slain its thousands and ten thousands. What ruined Lot’s wife?—the world. What ruined Achan?—the world. What ruined Haman?—the world. What ruined Judas?—the world. What ruined Simon Magus?—the world. What ruined Demas?—the world. And “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

CLOWN AND WIT.—Grimaldi, a noted clown, consulted a physician to obtain a cure for his melancholy, and was advised to go and listen to his own performances. What mockery! “The heart knoweth its own bitterness.” Disraeli tells of meeting a most miserable and squalid man, who was then amusing all London with his witty verses. Thomas Hood, the witty comic poet, found the world only a gilded cheat. All who have chosen the world and have had it, have been disappointed with their portion.

TENACIOUS LEAF.—As yon will some, times see a sere and yellow leaf hang upon the tree all through winter, tenacious of its hold, whirling in the wind, out of beauty, out of grace, out of season! so you sometimes may see some wornout, godless old sinners clinging to this world.

DOG’S MASTER.—When you see a dog following two men, you know not to which of them he belongs while they walk together; but let them come to a parting road, and one go one way and the other another way, then you will know which is the dog’s master.

GIVE, GIVE.—Could you change all the pebbles on the beach into minted money, or conjure into bank notes all the leaves of the forest; nay, could you transmute the earth into a single lump of gold, and drop it into the gaping mouth of avarice,—it would only be a transient comfort, enabling it to cry “Give, give!”

CRATES’ GOLD.—Crates threw his gold into the sea, saying, “I will destroy thee lest thou destroy me!” If men do not put the love of the world to death, love of the world will destroy them.

WORLD A STAGE.—The world is a great show, which presents us various scenes and fantastic characters,—princes, politicians, warriors and philosophers, the rich, the honorable, the wise, the learned, and, with these, the servant and the beggar, the poor, the weak and the despised. Some seldom come from behind the scenes; others, adorned with honor and power, are followed by a shouting multitude, and fill the world with the noises of their actions. But in a little time, the scene turns, and all these phantoms disappear. The king of terrors clears the stage of these busy actors, and strips them of their fictitious ornaments, bringing them all to a level, and sending them down to the grave; all the actors in a drama return to their private character when the play is over.

LOCKE’S TESTIMONY.—Mr. Locke, before his death, declared: “This life is a scene of vanity that soon passes away, and affords no solid satisfaction but in the consciousness of doing well and in the hopes of another life.”