Better to stem with heart and hand
The roaring tide of life, than lie,
Unmindful, on its flowery strand,
Of God's occasions drifting by!
Better with naked nerve to bear
The needles of this goading air,
Than in the lap of sensual ease forego
The godlike power to do, the godlike aim to know.Whittier.
THE DEGREE OF "O.O."
When Moody first visited Ireland he was introduced by a friend to an Irish merchant who asked at once:
"Is he an O.O.?"
"Out and Out"--that was what "O.O." stood for.
"Out and Out" for God--that was what this merchant meant. He indeed is but a wooden man, and a poor stick at that, who is decided in everything else, but who never knows "where he is at" in all moral relations, being religiously nowhere.
The early books of the Hebrews have much to say about "The Valley of Decision" and the development of "Out and Out" moral character.
Wofully lacking in a well-balanced will power is the man who stands side by side with moral evil personified, in hands with it, to serve it willingly as a tool and servant.