cessful man to be the enemy of Him self as well as society. This is the person who has lost progress. He re sists all change that is not for his own personal benefit. Since the kind of society he lives in is that which has made himself successful, he is inclined to believe that it is the best of every thing life could possibly offer. Note the way this rich man opened the conversation, “Master, I know that You are good.” He started with a com pliment (without ever having taken a Dale Carnegie course). No one is likely to criticize a person who has just praised him. Perhaps he expected the Lord to return the compliment. Then they could have a good talk about the pleasantries of life. He would be able to go back and report to his friends, “I like the new preach er. He’s a good fellow; just one of the ‘boys’ like the rest of us.” But Jesus didn’t respond this way at all. He rather examined the motive behind the young man’s compliment. The Lord asked, “Do you realize, when you call me ‘good,’ you are saying, ‘I am God.’ ” But such an evaluation a popu lar man cannot assimilate. People who feel they have attained the acme of popularity, success and acceptability have little incentive for innovation. As one has written, “If Jesup Christ be man and only man, I say I will cling to Him and to Him will I cling always. But if Jesus Christ is God and only God I swear I will follow Thee through hell, the earth, the sea, the land.” What do you think of Christ? Make the application to your own life, as the rich young ruler was forced to do, but I pray you will not come away as he did. God has His love and grace to bestow fully upon those who will see themselves for what they really are. * * * You can do more than pray after you have prayed, however, you cannot do more •than pray, until you have prayed. * • * With the spirit of high living, the chief financial problem for moat families is hav ing too much month left over at the end of the money.
It's not too hard living on a small income as long as you don't spend too much of it trying to keep the fact a secret. * * * GIVING TO KEEP An interesting story has come out of Indiana where a wealthy sheep farmer, who had been troubled by neighbors’ dogs, proved his resource fulness. These animals had been com ing in and killing some of his young fold. Ordinarily, most farmers might encounter the problem with a lawsuit, barbed wire fences, or even a shot gun. This man, however, was a Chris tian. He had a far better idea. To every neighbor, depending on how many children were in the family, he gave a lamb for a personal pet. The children were thrilled and quickly be came attached to the soft creatures. Now the people began tying up their dogs. It put an end to the problem. The Word of God is very practical on this subject. We are exhorted, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” It takes a great man to give sound advice tactfully, but a greater one to accept it, graciously. REVEALING STATISTICS World-famous Beverly Hills is sup posedly the glamour capital of the world. Some of the interesting statis tics reveal that most people there live far above the national average. The average income here is about $20,000 per year. While there are no slums there, yet these people, with all the great opportunities afforded to them are restless. This is revealed in the fact that the city has some 198 psy chiatrists, which means that there is one for every 166 residents. (This is extremely low, compared with the na tional average of one psychiatrist for every 1,100.) Menial sickness is not something at which we can casually shrug our shoulde: s. Here at Biola we have a number of students taking courses in psychology as it is related wholly to the Word of God. * * * When you feel down in the mouth just remember Jonah for after all, he came out all right. 22
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