ure in a normal man can
never explain and excuse the grievous sins which he deliberately commits.
It is only true that a weak and wounded nature leaves one less able to
choose what is right, and more disposed to wrong. And since we know the
state of things, since we know that the fault is really ours when we dare
to stray to forbidden deeds and places, how constant and unrelenting, if
we are truly wise, should be our efforts to keep our vision unobscured and
our ears attuned to the voice and call of our heavenly Shepherd! We know
that by following Him our way will be certain and clear. Howsoever
enormous the evils of life, and notwithstanding all our weakness, we know
that in Him we are safe and strong. But we must hear Him to follow Him, we
must be guided and directed by His gracious commands.

This failure to hear and obey the voice of God it is which more explains
the falls and sins of men than all their inherited frailty. So long as His
words are heard and directions heeded, mistake and error are impossible.
We see, therefore, why it is that so many actually do desert Him and are
led by evil voices. The cause chiefly lies in the wilfulness of human
nature and in the abuse of human liberty. We cannot stand unless God
support us, and we shall surely fall if He withdraws His supporting hand.
But the choice of evil, the beginning of unfaithfulness comes from
ourselves; for Almighty God will never forsake us unless we first forsake
Him.

If, ever, then, we find our lives to be at variance with God, whether in
lesser or in greater matters, if it should ever be our unhappy fortune to
wander from Him, like another prodigal, and waste our lives with the
enemies of our souls, we can be assured that the desertion is all our own.
We forget God, we deliberately wander from His sight and care, and then we
fall. Engrossed in worldly affairs, taken up with present vanities, with
ourselves, our ease, our temporal advancement, we begin to neglect prayer
and communion with God, we begin to rely on ourselves and to forge ahead
of our own accord, only to encounter complete defeat and be shorn of all
our strength. The secret of our power and success is to keep close to Him,
to speak to Him lovingly and often, to seek guidance and protection from
Him, and habitually to live in His comforting presence.

But such is the boundless kindness of our heavenly Shepherd that, no
matter how often we may have wandered from Him, or how seriously we