We never know the worth of a thing till it is tested. Gold must be tried by fire, the free agent by temptation or trial. For his own interest, for his glory and reward, man needs to go through the furnace. It would not be worthy of God or of man that God should glorify him without his own concurrence and merit. For friendship and love there must be reciprocity. How grand it is to be able to say, "Behold we have left all things and have followed Thee" (Matt. xix. 27) ; or again: "I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. iv. 7). As the angels had to be proved, so Adam. His functions were very high. Nobility of character, unswerving loyalty, blind trust fulness in his Father and Lord, strength, perseverance, were necessary for his position. It had to be seen whether he was worthy of holding in fee the estate of grace and the title of son of God, and capable of administering it for his descendants, and transmitting it to them as an inheritance. He had to make the choice between the supernatural and the natural plane of existence. You, too, have to be tested and to prove your worth. Rejoice in the severity of your trial ; it is not to be regarded as a danger and a misery, but as an opportunity for heroism, and the price of an eternal reward. Continue Reading.
