Our religion must cost us something!

(George Everard, "Shine as Lights!" 1882)

"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

Every Christian must be a cross-bearer. There is no escaping this. "Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:27

We must be willing to suffer for Christ's sake; we must crucify self and the flesh; we must be willing to perform unpleasant duties, and make sacrifices of things we might like to retain.

Our religion must cost us something!

Sloth, and ease, and self-indulgence, and a worldly spirit must be cut up by the roots!

We must be most careful over the employment of our time. It is our greatest talent, and we must throw none of it away. Every hour, every moment must be spent as under the eye of our gracious Master. We are told the gold sweepings at the mint last year amounted in value to many thousands of dollars. Our fragments of time are gold dust; and we must not throw them aside as worthless, but gather them up that none may be lost.

I would entreat you, dear reader, to rise above the common standard - and strive, by God's grace, to live a very holy, devoted, self-denying life.

I beseech all Christians to set before you the life of Christ as your pattern. Walk as He walked - live as He lived! And, doing this, expect to receive day by day a large supply of His grace.