let
thee know, that earthly things, when they are with power upon men's
minds, quite carry their hearts away from God._

_Then said Christiana, O deliver me from this muck-rake!_

I think I am not wrong in saying that the story and the picture set
before us two kinds of life--a poor and worthless one which many people
choose, and a high and glorious one from which many people turn away.

I

The man with the muck-rake represents _The worldly life_--the life of
selfishness, of grasping and striving after the good things of this
earth alone.

This is a childish kind of life for any one to spend. A look at the
old man's face shows us that. God has given us natures that we can put
to the noblest uses; but if we prize and pursue nothing save the
pleasures and the riches of this world, we shall carry into our old age
the foolishness and senselessness of the youngest children.

Such a life, besides, is a life of bondage and care. We make the world
into a prison, and we fetter ourselves with chains, when we make its
good things our chief aim and reward. The battered and blood-stained
crown shows that the highest earthly ambitions have their pains and
miseries even when they are most successful.

Then this kind of life does not satisfy, and does not last. The varied
rubbish shows that this world's possessions are not worth much after
all. The bursting bubbles show that their attraction is hollow and
delusive. The coins escaping from the bags show that we cannot keep
our riches for ever, no matter how hard we try. The rising flames
remind us that nothing on the earth will endure.

Lastly, a worldly life is an unworthy life. The toad and beetle and
snake show that there are often vile things hidden among the treasures
of earth. The bent, crouching form of the old man shows how
selfishness and greed degrade and bow down our nature. The expiring
flame of the lantern warns us that worldly grasping puts out the light
of love and goodness in the soul.

II

The shining crown which Christ holds out calls us to _The unworldly
life_. This is a life of love, of giving, of sacrifice like His own.

Such a life is the only one that is truly happy, though it may not seem
so pleasant as the other. It is far more blessed to give than to
receive.

It is the only life that is truly noble. There never was such a grand
life as the life of the Lord Jesus on earth, and the more our life is
like His, the nearer will it