Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/238

 sidered, the unrenewed and unregenerate mind of man is a magician; and such were the magicians of Egypt: and by all the researches and reasonings of such a mind, evils can never be brought to light. It requires the finger of the Lord, the power of truth in the exploration of the will. Now Aaron represented the Lord, with respect to Divine Truth; his rod represented the power and searching quality of that truth; while the exercise of the rod by Aaron represented the application of the force of truth to detect evil. Light from the Lord must be admitted into the mind from the literal sense of the Holy Word, and then will man behold, not only his evil affections, inclinations, and desires, but will also be enabled to perceive that his whole life is a violation of the laws of Divine order, as, were the lives of the Egyptians, and particularly of their magi, or priests. The natural mind can see truth—can make truth appear as falsehood, and falsehood as truth; but by all the reasonings of such a mind, by all the light which it possesses, it can discover evil neither in itself nor others. This is the reason why the magicians could not produce lice.

ANY are the reasons why we should be true to our God—why we should worship none other than the just God, our Saviour; but there is one which claims our particular attention: it is, that he is