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In all ages there has been a tendency to set apart certain days, places, and occasions for worship; and these have their importance. A man cannot be so much of a Christian on Sunday that he can afford to he a worldling all the rest of the week. If a steamer put out for Southampton, and go one day in that direction and the other six days go in other directions, how long will it take the steamer to get to Southampton? And though a man may seem to be voyaging heavenward on the Sabbath, if, during the following six days he is going towards the world, the flesh, etc., he will never ride up into the harbour of heaven. We want to bring the religion of Christ into —

I. Our EVERY-DAY CONVERSATION. When a dam breaks, and two or three villages are overwhelmed, or an earthquake swallows a city, then people begin to talk about the uncertainty of life, and imagine that they are engaged in religions conversation. No. You may talk about these things and have no grace in your heart. If there is anything glad, beautiful, important about religion we ought to be continuously speaking about it. And yet how few circles there are where it is welcome! As on a summer day, when the forests are full of life and carol, if a hawk appear in the sky the forests are still; just so I have seen a lively religious circle silenced on the appearance of anything like religious conversation. But then we must live religion or we cannot talk it. If a man is cross, uncongenial, and hard, and then begins to talk about Christ and heaven, everybody is repelled by it.

II. OUR EVERY-DAY EMPLOYMENTS. "Oh," you say, "that is very well if a man handle large sums of money, or if he has an extensive traffic; but my sphere is too humble for the action of such grand principles." Who told you so? God watches the faded leaf as certainly as He does the path of the sun. And the moss makes as much impression upon God's mind as the cedar. When you have anything to do in life, however humble it may seem to be, God is always there to help you to do it. A religion that is not good in one place is not worth anything in another place. The man who has only a day's wages in his pocket as certainly needs the guidance of religion as he who rattles the keys of a bank. Plato once said that spirits of the other world came back to this to find a body and a sphere of work. One came and took the body of a king and did his work. Another took the body of a poet and did his work. After a while Ulysses came, and he said, "Why, all the fine bodies and all the grand work are taken. There is nothing left for me." And some one replied, "Ah! the best one has been left for you — the body of a common man, doing a common work, and for a common reward." A good fable for the world, and just as good a fable for the Church. "Whether ye eat or drink," etc.

III. OUR EVERY-DAY TRIALS. For severe losses, for trouble that shocks like an earthquake, we prescribe religious consolation; but for the small annoyances of last week, how much of the grace of God did you apply? "Oh!" you say, "these trials are too small for such application." My brother, they are shaping your character, souring your temper, wearing out your patience, and making you less and less of a man. A large fortune may be spent in small change, and a vast amount of moral character may go away in small depletion. A swarm of locusts will kill a grain-field sooner than the incursions of three or four cattle. Rats may sink a ship. One lucifer match may send destruction through a block of storehouses. Catherine de Medici got her death from smelling a poisonous rose. Columbus, by stopping and asking for a piece of bread and a drink of water at a Franciscan convent, was led to the discovery of a new world. There is an intimate connection between trifles and immensities, between nothings and everythings. Now, be careful to let none of those annoyances go through your soul unarraigned. Compel them to administer to your spiritual wealth. Our Government does not think it belittling to put a tax on trifles. The individual taxes do not amount to much, but in the aggregate to millions of dollars. And I would have you put a high tariff on every annoyance that comes through your soul. This might not amount to much in single cases, but in the aggregate it would be a great revenue of spiritual strength and satisfaction. A bee can suck honey even out of a nettle, and if you have the grace of God in your heart you can get sweetness out of that which would otherwise annoy.

IV. OUR EVERY-DAY BLESSINGS. When the harvests are in we assemble in churches and are very thankful. But every day ought to be a thanksgiving day. We have to see a blind man led by his dog before we begin to bethink ourselves of what a grand thing it is to have eyesight. We have to see some wounded man hobbling on his crutch, or with his empty coat sleeve pinned up, before we learn to think what a grand thing God did for us when He gave us healthy use of our limbs. We are so stupid that nothing but the misfortunes of others can rouse us up to our blessings. The cow that stands under the willow chewing its cud looks very thankful; and who can tell how much a bird means by its song? The aroma of the flowers smells like incense, and mist arising from the river looks like the smoke of a morning sacrifice. Oh, that we were as responsive! Yet, who thanks God for the water that gushes up the well and that foams in the cascade, and that laughs over the rocks, and that patters in the shower, and that claps its hands in the sea? Who thanks God for the air, the fountain of life, the bridge of sunbeams, the path of sound, the great fan on a hot summer's day? Who thanks God for this wonderful physical organism? We take all these things as a matter of course. But suppose God should withdraw these common blessings?

(T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.)

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KJV: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

WEB: Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.