Suppose, as you are sitting at the table in a pleasant
evening, the customary hour for you to retire to rest arrives. You
are, perhaps, engaged in reading some very interesting book, and do
not feel at all sleepy. You ask permission to sit up a little longer.
But your mother tells you that the time for you to go to bed has
come, and she prefers that you should be regular in your habits. You
think it is rather hard that you cannot be indulged in your wishes,
and, with sullen looks, shut your book, and, taking a light, in ill
humor go to your chamber. Now, this is not obedience. As you retire
to your chamber, the displeasure of God follows you. Your sin of
disobedience is so great, that you cannot even pray before you fall
asleep. It is impossible for a person to pray when out of humor. You
may repeat the words of prayer, but you cannot offer acceptable
prayer to the Lord. And as you lie down upon your bed, and the
darkness of night is around you, your offended Maker regards you as
an ungrateful and disobedient child. And all the night long his eye
is upon your heart, and the knowledge of your sin is in his mind.
Obedience belongs to the heart, as well as to the outward conduct. It
is necessary that you should, with affection and cheerfulness,
fulfill the wishes of your parents. You should feel that they know
what is best, and, instead of being sullen and displeased because
they do not think fit to indulge you in all your wishes, you should,
with a pleasant countenance and a willing heart, yield to their
requirements.
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