, "When you told me that I was to become the wife of
Theodosius, and Empress of the East, my heart was like to burst with
joy, but now that I have been made a member of Christ, a child of God,
and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven, I feel no such exceeding
joy, but take it all without any emotion,--and I am grieved at my
coldness and want of faith. That is why I am crying."

Is it not very much the same with us? Anything that concerns our
earthly welfare fills us with excitement, but we trouble ourselves very
little about our spiritual concerns. If we have a chance of getting 50
pounds a-year, we are full of delight, but we receive the precious gift
of God without even gratefulness. If we knew that an inheritance of a
thousand pounds was ours if we applied for it, should we not apply?
But when it comes to our approaching the altar of God to receive the
Bread of Heaven, the priceless gift of the Body of our Lord, which will
infuse into our mortal flesh the germ of immortality, we turn
listlessly away. If we had an acquaintance who, we thought, could put
us into a good way of making our fortune, we would be always at his
heels, but we are cold and careless about seeking God in His house, and
in prayer, and yet our eternal welfare depends on our retaining His
favour.

II. Now, this is not a satisfactory condition to be in. "The Kingdom
of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by storm," said
our Lord, and He meant that if Heaven is to be won, it must be won by
those who are in earnest, and vehement in their desire to get it.
Half-hearted soldiers are not good soldiers. Half-hearted servants are
poor servants, half-hearted workers are unsatisfactory workers, and the
battle we have to fight is a hard one, it is a battle against flesh and
blood, against Satan and all his host, against the world, and against
our own wills. Is such a battle to be won when we go into it without
any desire to be conquerors? We are servants of God, and given a work
in this world to do. Are we likely to do it if half-hearted? Are we
likely to keep His commandments, if we care just a little to please
Him, but only a little? Are we likely to win our wage, Eternal Life,
if we do not work zealously, but waste the time of work in half-hearted
trifling with our task?

No, we must be in earnest. We want zeal. How are we to acquire this?
This is what the Holy Ghost gives. Before Pentecost the disciples were
half-hearted,