The Lungs

*’ Some graces, like the limgs, are always in tiseP “Pray without ceasing “; “be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long”; and such like exhortations appertain to continuous duties. Thus David says, “I have set the Lord always before me”; he was always living in the presence of God. Other parts of the human frame are exercised occasionally, but the lungs are always at work, and, even so, certain of the graces are in active motion in their appointed seasons, but faith never ceases to believe in the Lord Jesus, for it is essential to spiritual vitality. Hence we ought never to go where we shall be out of the atmosphere of heaven. Lungs must have air, and cannot endure a dense smoke or a poisonous gas; nor can faith bear error, false doctrine, and evil conversation. Since we always need the pure air of heaven, let us not go where it cannot be found. Who in his senses would desire to have been in the Black Hole of Calcutta? Who wishes to dwell where drunkenness and loose living abound? How can faith breathe in such a suffocating atmosphere?

Lord, keep thou my faith alive, that it may keep me alive, and that I may live to thee.