The Bird Afraid of the Scarecrow

“If a7t tmregeneraie man should leave off sin under fear of death or hell, it wotild not be out of hatred to sin, but out of the fear of the piinishtnent, as the bird is kept fro7n the bait by the scarecrow Much of this scarecrow work is going on around us, and if it prevents the stealing of the wheat we may be glad of it. Still, it is a poor state of things for a man to refrain from sin merely and only because he is afraid of smarting for it. If the heart would, but the hand dares not, the person will be judged by what he desires rather than by his actions. We are before God what in our hearts we wish to be. The raven is not a dove so long as it longs for carrion, even though it may sit in a cage, and act like the gentlest of birds. Christ did not come to scare us from sin, but to save us from it. Even if there were no hell, true saints would hate sin, and strive after holiness.