A WORD FOR TRIED ONES
A blacksmith, about eight years after he had given his heart to God, was approached by an intelligent unbeliever with the question: “Why is it you have so much trouble? I have been watching you. Since you joined the church and began to ‘walk square’ and seem to love everybody, you have had twice as many trails and accidents as you had before. I thought that when a man gave himself to God his troubles were over. Isn’t that what the parsons tell us?” With a thoughtful but glowing face, the blacksmith replied: “Do you see this piece of iron? It is for the springs of a carriage. I have been ‘tempering’ it for some time. To do this I heat it red-hot, and then plunge it into a tub of ice-cold water. This I do many times. If I find it taking ‘temper’, I heat the hammer unmercifully. In getting the right piece of iron I found several…
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