| The Way of Victory |
Chapter 3 |
Page 5 |
This part of the Wise Man’s message is completed by the statement that a man shall be satisfied by the fruit of his mouth. We have but to do good and faithful planting and we need not worry about the harvest. It is true on the farm and in the garden. He that sows and plants will reap and gather, and will not go hungry. But the application is wider. Youth is the sowing-time. A well-spent youth gives a satisfied and a satisfactory manhood and womanhood. All life is full of illustrations. Diligence yields a reward. Industry brings competence. Obedience gives blessing. Good behaviour insures good reputation. The reverse is also true. “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” An idler shall have bare fields in harvest time. Neglected lessons in school can give only ignorance, dishonour, and failure in later life. He that sows wild oats shall reap-wild oats.
But it is usually true that the sower of wild oats feels that he is choosing the better way. Self-conceit is blind to its own faults. The self-conceited man sees plenty of faults in his neighbours. He thinks other people are mostly fools. His opinion of himself is always sublimely exalted. All he does is unquestionably right. His decisions are all most surely right. He has no faults. He can never by any possibility be mistaken. Nothing he does is ever wrong. “The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes.” We all know this man. He lives in our street. Pity, isn’t it? that the Bible sets such a mark on him. It almost calls him a fool. At least it puts it only a shade more gently, and says he is foolish, which is the same thing. It seems a little hard, too, that a man’s estimate of himself must be so severely discounted. The lesson, however, is that we had better not think too highly of ourselves. The best thing is just to be and do our best always, and let other people estimate how good we are and how wise and great.
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