by Bishop Charles Edward Cheney

First Bishop of the Diocese of Mid-America

St. James puts his finger on the weak spot of those whom he styles "hearers only," when he refers to the haste with which they behold themselves in the mirror of God's Word. The glance of such a man is superficial. But it is something more. It is very brief: "He goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

Such a man only proves a universal law. The thing which so impresses us, so that it fixes itself permanently in the memory, and reproduces itself in our life and character, is almost invariable that to which we have given time.

You know that that rule is a universal law. The business which prospers, the profession which brings distinction, the literary work which stands the test of time, the painting or statue which gives the artist an immortal name, is never the product of some hasty moment. It is the result of taking time. We talk about a sudden flash of the fire of genius. If there be any such, it is like a straw-stack struck by lightning. The fire dies out almost at birth. All history, all biography, bears witness that whatever endures has taken time for its preparation.

Last spring, travelling in Ohio, I could see the farm-hands planting corn. The day was sultry, the sun was hot, and wide acres were yet to be covered. But how patiently they kept at it! Why should they not? They were looking forward to the autumn and the harvest. They knew that the Medes and the Persians had no more irrepealable law than this: "According as a man soweth, so shall he also reap." No wonder they gave time ungrudgingly.

What of the harvest of the Word of God? What are you looking forward to, "when time shall be no more"? Eternal ages of holiness, happiness, and unending life. has any soul a right to expect such a harvest, who shall not give time to the sowing?

When I listen on Sunday morning for thirty minutes to a sermon; give Sunday afternoon to recreation, and then hardly open my Bible, or take time for prayer during the week, what sort of sowing is this, for ripe sheaves and the glad harvest-home through Eternity's endless cycles?

Believe me, dear friends, it is this inadequate time given to things unseen as yet, but eternal, which creates so many "hearers, but not doers of the Word."

I know precisely what your answer is: "Who can give time to religion, in the stress of life in a such a city of Chicago? The treadmill of competition keeps us ever on the march. There is no let-up of the pressure. We must give our time to our business, or go under."

Now to this plausible plea I have three answers. They shall be so concise that you can fix them in your memory. May the Holy Spirit fix them in your conscience!

First: God has recognized the pressure of your cares, and consequently has given you one seventh of your time for your soul's welfare. Can you honestly say that you do give that day to the purpose for which God gave it to you?

Second: Christ had such miraculous power that he created in a desert-place enough food to feed five thousand people. Yet he said to his disciples, "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost." Your business sense tells you that habits of systematic economy are worth more than a fortune dropping like a ripe apple into your hands. With all the pressure on your time, are there no moments in your days given to the club, to friendly but purposeless gossip, to wading through a newspaper, which could be economized for sowing the seed of the spiritual harvest?

Third: I remember that my associate a few Sundays ago preached upon putting "first things first." Do you never take time, even when busiest, for a duty which seems supreme?

Not long ago a message came to me from one who in desperate illness sought my counsel and prayer. My sermon was unfinished. My correspondence was in arrears. Books were waiting to be consulted. Sunday was at hand. The stress was almost more than I could bear. Yet from every duty, I turned to that one, which before God, I saw to be supreme. I took time when I could not afford it. Beloved, is there any work, any business, any use of time, as supreme as making sure that my soul is "right with God"?