Complexion

“We do not judge ofineiis complexions by the colour they have when they sit befo7’e the fire. We cannot judge of a man by a holy fit which he hath when he is imder the infiue7ice of a sermo?i or in good company; but when at all times he labours to keep up a warjnth of heart towards GodP If all were truly good who are occasionally good, good men would not be scarce. See how people weep under a moving sermon! Think not, therefore, that their hearts are changed, for even marble drips in certain weathers. A man fresh from a revival-meeting looks like a zealous Christian; but see him when he goes to market. As a face rendered red by the fire soon loses all its ruddiness, so do numbers lose all their godliness when they quit the society of the godly.

Lord, let me never be what I cannot be for ever. Give me a complexion which I shall wear all my lifetime, and when time shall be no more.