"What does procrastination mean, Miss Layton?" asked Ella, "I don't think I know exactly."
"It means deferring, delaying, or putting off until another time what ought to be done now. When we have a duty to perform, we should always attend to that first, and take our pleasure afterwards. But your worst fault to-day, Ella, was getting into such a dreadful passion. Don't you know, my dear child, that the Bible tells us that, when we indulge in angry passions, we break the sixth commandment, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill?'"
"Yes, ma'am, I know that; my mother used to tell me so, and I often think I never will get angry again, but I can't help it, when anybody teases me."
"No, Ella, if you trust in your own strength, you certainly cannot; but, my dear child, if you ask help of God, he will enable you to do it. I am afraid that you forgot to ask God this morning, to keep you from sin through the day, and if so, it is no wonder that you have behaved so wickedly."
"I did say my prayers this morning, Miss Layton," said Ella; "mamma told me I must always do it, and I always do."
"Ah, but, my child, did you really pray? did you think of the meaning of the words you were saying, and really desire what you were asking for? did you pray with your heart, or was it with your lips only?"
Ella hung her head. "I was in a hurry," she said in a low tone, "and said them very fast, for fear I wouldn't be ready for breakfast."
"Oh Ella, were you not afraid to approach the great God in that irreverent manner?" said Miss Layton. "Did you forget that, 'God is a spirit; and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth?' It is mocking the great God, when you repeat a form of prayer with your lips, while you are not praying in your heart, and that is a dreadful sin. The Bible tells us: 'By their fruits ye shall know them,' and you, Ella, have shown by your actions this day, that you are a child of wrath, even as others; that you have a very wicked heart—a heart at enmity with God; and, Ella, unless your heart becomes changed, you can never be fit to dwell with him; you would not be happy in his presence—in the presence of Him who is of purer eyes than to behold sin, and cannot look upon iniquity—even if allowed to go where he is; and every moment that you remain as you are, you are in danger of losing your immortal soul. O Ella, pray earnestly to God, to give you a new heart, for he alone can do it."