When the soul is like a watered garden, it will be drawn to
God in prayer in the early morning. Any delay will cause uneasiness and
restlessness. The soul longs to hasten away to the presence of God. But
one little delay after another brings on a morbid condition. The soul
loses its keen relish; its senses become deadened, so that there is no
uneasiness; while the senses of the self-life will find pleasure in sloth.
When the soul once gets into the habit of idleness, it experiences no
little difficulty in getting out. On becoming aware of his state, the
individual may acknowledge his inactivity and make half-formed resolves to
be more earnest and diligent, only very soon to relapse into the same
former sluggishness. This virus of sloth inoculates the entire spiritual
being, poisoning the will and making spiritual activity most disagreeable.
Not only does it destroy the will of the soul, but it blindfolds the eyes
so that the individual can see no necessity for great fervency in spirit
or for diligence in spiritual exercise. In a half-dazed manner he
acknowledges that the "watchings often" and "fastings often" and "praying
always" of the apostle Paul were very consistent in him, but does not
realize that such would be as desirable in his own Christian profession.
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