Page images
PDF
EPUB

and ricks; all will go on just as it is with you to-day. But where will you be then? That is the point. That is the point I wish to speak about. As a friend I do not care so much how you fare for seventy years as for seventy times seventy millions. I want you to lay up treasure in heaven; I want you to prepare for the hour of death, and for the day of judgment; I want you to sow to a heavenly harvest that you may reap everlasting joy. I want you to be so true, so zealous, so warm a disciple of Christ, that when farms, lands, sheep, oxen, corn, slip out of your hands, you may have better things than these through your Saviour's mercy.

Do not, I pray you, let your whole soul, your whole heart, your whole life, be swallowed up with markets and worldly business. Do not toil wholly for the body. Though you have to labour and to deal with worldly things, yet in the midst of all worldly business be ever seeking to do Christ's will, to have the love of God in your hearts, to make ready for the judgment, to subdue your worldly appetites, to wear your daily cross. This is the advice of a farmer's

friend.

For the government of your own life according to the will of God, let me give you a few

plain rules. First, be regular in your private prayers. Even in the busiest time never neglect to pray; time spent in prayer is time saved, time gained, though it may sometimes seem to be lost. Though as at harvest time when there is much to do you may be tempted to hurry down stairs and get out into your fields to look after the men without stopping to pray first, yet, I. beseech you to check yourself at such a time, even to force yourself to kneel down as usual, to pray as long as usual, and not for all the corn in the world to cut short your prayers. Short prayers and long days in your field will make up but a poor account on the day of judgment; stacks of corn, my friend, are not worth as much to you as your own immortal soul. What will it be to say, "I got my corn well in, to be sure; but then I forgot my God." As in the morning, so at night, remember to offer up fervent prayer. However tired or weary you may be, kneel down and pray; for how is the inward life of the soul to be preserved, how are you to have the help of the Holy Ghost, how are you to have Christ's love, how are you to get strength to resist the sins which do so easily beset you, how are you to conquer a worldly spirit and to walk closely with your

God amid all the temptations of the day, unless you give yourself to prayer? And by prayer, I mean a hearty fervent lifting up of the soul, not the mere muttering of words, not a cold dry form, but warm earnest desires of the heart, the warm utterance of the heart at the throne of grace.

2. Then, throughout the day constantly call to mind the presence of God. Whether you are in the corn-field or in the barn, in stable or field, say to yourself, "God is here; Thou God seest me; Thou seest into my thoughts; Thou hearest what I say; Thou seest what I do." A constant recollection of God's presence is of great value in steadying us in the midst of our day, and in keeping us from sin.

3. Again, be careful how you speak of the weather, for it is in God's hands, and it is God Himself who sends storm and sunshine, wet or drought. Take care therefore not to complain against God. Often the weather may try you; indeed, often, beyond doubt, God wills that it should be a trial; but what if you fail and sin and err when you are tried? Think of this when you are tempted to be peevish or irritable or vexed, when you have too much rain or too much. sun. As a Christian farmer look upon it as a

trial of your patience, and seek in a Christian spirit to submit to the providence of God.

4. In all your bargains strive against a grasping spirit. Deal as a man of integrity; deal as a Christian; every bargain will meet you again on the day of judgment; you will hear of it again; it will meet you face to face; those who thought themselves sharp and clever in selling things for more than they were worth, or in buying them for less than they were worth, will find that they were fools when they seemed to be wise. "The children of this world are wiser in their generation, than the children of light," but the unscrupulous dealer will hereafter hate himself for the gain he made. It is possible to lose while you seem to gain, and to gain when you seem to lose. "There is," says the Scripture, "that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."

5. If at times you feel yourself becoming over anxious about your farm, over-charged with the cares of this world, then picture to yourself the moment of your death; imagine yourself to be in the act of dying, and consider how little you would think of earthly gains and losses at that most awful hour, when your spirit was about to pass forth into the unseen world; try and regard

your business now as you would regard it in your dying hour. Or picture to yourself the last day, when "the earth shall be burned up, and the works that are therein," when your very fields will be all melting away, dissolving, perishing, passing away with a great noise. The thought of the end of the world and of Christ appearing in great glory with His holy angels, is of great power in impressing us with the utter worthlessness of those earthly things which we naturally desire.

6. Be bountiful, according to your means. Have you hitherto done much for the poor? Have you given alms. Have you helped your clergyman in supporting the parish school and in other good works? To speak plainly, I have often heard it said that farmers give very little away. Is it true?

7. Be very careful of your Lord's days; good Sundays lead the way to good week-days; and a bad beginning to the week puts the whole week out of tune. Perhaps you are regular in Church; if so, let me urge you not only to be regular, but to be devout; I urge you to worship God in spirit and in truth, not to loll or sit in your seat, but deeply impressed with your Saviour's presence to cast yourself down upon your knees, and with a strong sense of your sinfulness.

« PreviousContinue »