In a day when, without doubt, Christian things are at a low ebb, and when many a Christian is more than half asleep and when others are feeble and cold-hearted, it is plainly the duty of each loyal heart to seek to improve the state of things by making the world better by one. A practical view of life is the need of the hour. We may sink so far down into indifference as to hear and as to speak of the low state of the church without being affected thereby to the extent of stirring up our own hearts to vigor and to earnestness. Make the world better by one, dear Christian reader, and mind that that one is yourself. Do not try to mend matters till you have amended your own ways. It is quite possible to lose the opportunity of doing good, which God gives, by spending one’s time in throwing stones at others. It is quite possible to be so careful in showing where this evil and the other lies that the golden moments for coming to God about one’s own state of soul are lost.
“Prayer is hardly prayer now-a-days,” say some. Then “Shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:66But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6)), and “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matt. 7:77Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (Matthew 7:7)).
The Bible is not the theme of private conversation as it once was; instead religious matters are discussed in a sadly external way. It requires no spirituality to criticize a sermon or query the style of a preacher. Be it so! But gather inspiration to do differently from such a text as this. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name” (Mal. 3:1616Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16)).
There is room for improvement in our daily lives, and the Scriptures will show us the remedy for the evils over which we grieve; but one thing is certain, every Christian reader, if he knows anything about the evil of the day, knows more about the evil of his own heart, and the only way to help matters is by oneself becoming more earnest, more prayerful, more true to the Scriptures, more true to Christ.
Make the world better by one.