from the Holy Word: "A man can receive nothing," says the Scripture, "except it be given him from heaven."
This being the case, if a man claim to himself his mental abilities, (his talents, as they are called,) and is proud of them,—if he does not with mind and heart acknowledge them as belonging to the Lord alone—in a word, if he is a self-conceited man,—he is guilty of violating the Commandment in this its celestial sense. He receives or wishes to receive praise and honor which does not belong to him, and withholds it from Him to whom it is due. All irreligious men, therefore, are breakers of this Commandment. They are every moment receiving from the Lord what they do not acknowledge to be derived from Him, but which they virtually claim for their own. If men of this description, who often make pretensions to honor, would but consider that they are every moment of their lives acting a most dishonorable part, by laying claim to that which is not theirs,—they would perhaps, lose something of that high self-estimation which is characteristic of this class. If such men were to conduct themselves towards other men with the ingratitude which they are continually showing towards the Lord, their greatest benefactor, they would be branded as dishonorable throughout society. Let us examine ourselves, and see if we are not, in a greater or less degree, guilty of breaking this Commandment in its highest sense, by not looking to the Lord, and acknowledging Him in all our ways.
Says the Lord Himself, "Verily, verily, I say unto
