THE GOOD THAT I WOULD I DO NOT.

 

JUNE 30.

The good that I would I do not.
Romans 7:19

 

THE heart of the unconverted sinner is never set up on doing good.
 
He may have some faint desires and
  feeble wishes, but his will is not renewed.
 
The believer would do good, he desires it,
  his heart is set upon it.
 
He would love God with all his
  heart, mine, soul, and strength.
He would believe in Jesus without wavering,
  and obey him without ceasing.
He would be just what God requires him to be, and
  he would do all that the Savior commands him to do;
  but he is weak, he has a body of sinful principles
  within him, and he finds that they often
  frustrate his purposes and spoil his best formed plans.
 
He cannot do the things that he would, and
  he will not do the things that he could.
 
The sin that dwells in him prevents the one, and
  the Spirit that dwells in him forbids the other.
 
The conflict in his bosom is constant,
  and often sharp.
 
It is for life; for until death there is
  no discharge in that war.
 
The flesh will lust against the spirit, and
  the spirit against the flesh,
  so that we cannot do the things that we would.
 
O for more grace to resist evil,
  to do good,
  to honor God,
  to exalt Christ, and
  to prepare for his Kingdom!
 
 
But if indeed I would,
Though I can nothing do;
Yet the desire is something good,
For which my praise is due.
 
James Smith 1849