The Central Presbyterian

CHEERFUL PIETY. Cheerfulness, that compound of many excellencies, comparable unto "the powders of the merchant," may scarcely claim to be called a virtue; but it is the friend and helper of all good graces, and the absence of it is certainly a vice. If cheerfulness be not health, assuredly melancholy is disease. Practically, cheerfulness occupies a very high position, and without it the Christian laborer is destitute of a very considerable element of strength. Cheerfulness sharpens the edge and removes the rust from the mind. A joyous heart supplies oil to our inward machinery, and makes the whole of our powers work with ease and efficiency; hence it is of the utmost importance that we maintain a contented, cheerful genial disposition. The longer I am engaged in my Master's service, the more am I confident that the joy of the Lord is and must be our strength, and that discontent and moroseness are fatal to usefulness. With all my heart would I say to my fellow-servants, "Rejoice in the Lord alway," not only for your own sakes, but for the sake of the work which is so dear to you. Whoever may advocate dreary dulness, I cannot and dare not do otherwise than impeach it as an enemy of true religion.—Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.