No, my dear young friends, this is good for a man. It is necessary for a
man, if he is to be a man and a child of God, and not a mere animal, to
have to work hard whether he likes or not. It is good for a man to bear
the yoke in his youth, as Jeremiah told the Jews, when, because they
would not bear God's light yoke in their youth, but ran riot into luxury
and wantonness, and superstition and idolatry which come thereof, they
had to bear the heavy yoke of the Babylonish captivity in their old age.
It is good for a man to be checked, crossed, disappointed, made to feel
his own ignorance, weakness, folly; made to feel his need of God; to feel
that, in spite of all his cunning and self-confidence, he is no better
off in this world than a lost child in a dark forest, unless he has a
Father in Heaven, who loves him with an eternal love, and a Holy Spirit
in Heaven, who will give him a right judgment in all things; who will put
into his mind good desires, and enable him to bring those desires to good
effect; and a Saviour in Heaven who can be touched with the feeling of
his infirmities, because He too was made perfect by sufferings; He too
was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.
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