Christianity is essentially a practical religion. There never was a man who was less of a visionary than Christ Jesus. He "went about doing good," living the right life and thereby showing others how to do the same; and yet, so little has the world grasped the true meaning of his mission, that the question: Is life worth living? is yet soberly mooted by thinking men and women. Jesus answered that question so fully and finally that there is no room for doubt; and he gave convincing proofs of the inestimable benefits to be attained by all who lead the right life here on earth. So complete was his success in dealing with all the problems of existence, that he will be known throughout all time as the Saviour of the world. He himself gained complete control over every discordant circumstance and condition; he mastered sickness, sin, and even death itself, and as a result of this mastery, rose to a state of conscious harmony altogether beyond the ken of mortals. Not only did he win for himself eternal glory as the result of his right living, but he gave assurance that the same goal was within the reach of all. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."
It is plain that there can be no activity without motive power to produce it. A man's life is the outcome of his ruling motive. This being so, in order to live aright the first necessity must be to start from the right motive. The man who is absolutely governed by the right motive does not do wrong; but when this guidance is lacking, or when different motives contend with one another, his course becomes as devious as that of a disabled craft attempting to navigate a stormy sea. This, then, is the important question which confronts us: What should be the motive of a man's life?
This question has been answered differently in different stages of development of the individual and the world. To the elementary, undeveloped thought, self-preservation seems the natural motive; it is the primitive instinct of men and of animals. But the unsatisfactory results of this crude selfishness, wherein every man's hand is against his neighbor, leads gradually to the adoption of a somewhat broader basis, and so we find the aggrandisement of a clan or a country becomes the motive power. Late in the world's history has come a great revolution of thought. In man's constant search for something that will satisfy, he is ever reaching out for something higher and better. Thus he tries to find relief from self in ministering to the wants of others, and so we see the frank egotism of former years yielding to the altruism of to-day.
