Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 308, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1914 — ALWAYS ONE ROAD [ARTICLE]

ALWAYS ONE ROAD

Earnest Seeker Will Never Find Path to Christ Completely Blocked. The one thing that brought fame to the four friends of the palsied man, mentioned in the Scriptures, was their resourcefulness. They were not easily embarrassed by some sudden difficulty. If they could not do the thing In the way they expected to do it 1 they would try something unusual. When they found the house where Christ was speaking so crowded* that they could not force themselves and their burden through the door by whiqh visitors were expected to enter, they climbed up some other way and accomplished* their purpose. There are generally obstacles in the way of doing anything that is worth doing. The worth of a thing is not always in proportion to the obstacles in the way. To climb a snow-capped mountain is a difficult and hazardous undertaking. It gives some splendid exercise, a magnificent view is obtained from the top, there is a sense of satisfaction in Having done what others have not been able to do. But there are easier things which have more real profit in them. Many difficulties must be overcome before the great rewards of life are gained. Skill to be an artist or musician or expert workman must be paid for in persevering application. Knowledge does not come without careful observation and hard study. Some of the obstacles tn the way may be avoided by taking another path, some of them must be forced out of x the way before we can proceed. There are not always two or more ways of gaining some goal. An education can fee’secured in only one way —by long dnd tedious study. If that path is blocked, it will be impossible to climb up some other way. There is but one way which leads to heaven. The Lord declared that those who tried to climb in some other Way are thieves and robbers. More Than One Way to Christ But there is more than one way into the presence of Christ On that day in Peter’s home some found him by entering the door and some by breaking tsp the roof. Bartimaeus feund him by sitting still by the roadside until the Lord came where he was, but Zaccheus, with that same resourcefulness which made him head of the customhouse at Jericho and rich, climbed into a tree and found a Savior. Some today may find him in the church, and others may find him in the tabernacle of the evangelist, and still others may come facet to face with him by following a most extraordinary course. Greater In number than the number of the roads which led, into Rome are the paths which lead to Christ. If one path Is blocked, there Is always another by which the earnest seeker can go to him.