Painting the Pump

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Reformation is no more the whole of Christianity than cultivation constitutes the whole of successful farming. A farmer may plow and harrow his ground every day of the summer and not permit a single weed to grow; that would be a high state of cultivation; but if he plants no seed in his field he will gather no crop in the autumn. Simply ridding your life of the weeds of undesirable habits, without planting the seeds of Christianity in your heart-garden, is as great a folly as for a farmer to cultivate his ground all summer and sow no seed. Repentance pulls up the weeds now growing and plants the seeds of righteousness. The man who attempts to improve by reforming is whitewashing his life, while the one who repents washes white his life, and there is a vast difference between the two processes. Morality can never save anybody. Painting the pump does not kill the typhoid germs and purify the water in the well. You may have literary circles and culture clubs, Carnegie libraries and schools of art, but your city will never be won to Christ until there is brought about an old-time revival of genuine repentance.

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