Thus, in the heart of
the acorn is a miniature oak-tree. The little chick carries within it an
image of the mother bird, to which it will naturally though unconsciously
conform.
In the natural world when things reach the highest point of development,
they begin to decay or deteriorate; but this is not true in the spiritual
world. Never in this life and possibly never in that life which is to come
shall we reach the fulness of the type, or, in other words, the highest
point of development. As the acorn or the little chick bears in its nature
an image of the parent, so the Christian bears in his soul the image of
God. This is the image to which he is to conform. Day after day he can
grow in grace. Day after day the beautiful graces of the Spirit can become
more beautiful and the exterior life be more perceptibly stamped with the
holy image of God. There must be progress, or there will be regress. When
a ball that has been thrown upward ceases to ascend, it begins to descend.
When the fulness of the type is reached, then begins the retrogression.
This is none the less true of spiritual things.
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