FEBRUARY 9

The Christian’s habit of thought has much indeed to do with his spiritual progress or retrogression, as it is also an index of his spiritual state; and good habits of thought need to be carefully cultivated. By “habit of thought” we mean that normal condition to which the mind habitually (characteristically) returns in the moments of mental leisure. While engaged in the active duties of life, we must of necessity bend our mental energies to the work at hand, for if we do anything merely mechanically and without concentrating thought upon it, we cannot do it well; yet even here Christian principle, well established in the character, will unconsciously guide. But when the strain of labor and care are lifted for a time, the established habit of thought, like the needle to the pole, should quickly return to its rest in God.