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"He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby."
--Ecclesiastes 10:9
Oppressors may get their will of poor and needy men as easily
as they can split logs of wood, but they had better mind, for it
is a dangerous business, and a splinter from a tree has often
killed the woodman. Jesus is persecuted in every injured saint,
and He is mighty to avenge His beloved ones. Success in treading
down the poor and needy is a thing to be trembled at: if there
be no danger to persecutors here there will be great danger
hereafter.
To cleave wood is a common every-day business, and yet it
has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected
with your calling and daily life which it will be well for you
to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or
by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort.
Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet the
devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm
labourer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from
temptations to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do
you damage. Those who dwell at home, and mingle not with the
rough world, may yet be endangered by their very seclusion.
Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself so. Pride may enter a poor
man's heart; avarice may reign in a cottager's bosom;
uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger, and
envy, and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural
abode. Even in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a
little purchase at a shop may be the first link in a chain of
temptations; the mere looking out of a window may be the
beginning of evil. O Lord, how exposed we are! How shall we be
secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only Thou
Thyself art able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Spread
Thy wings over us, and we, like little chickens, will cower down
beneath Thee, and feel ourselves safe!
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