Losses are often the means God uses to bring His wandering sheep back home; like fierce dogs, they drive strays back to the Shepherd. How often have we seen a Christian become obedient to God’s will through hardship and difficulty? When we’re rich and comfortable, we can become proud and boastful, like

David, who said, "My mountain stands firm; it shall never be moved." When Christians are wealthy, healthy, and have happy families, they often stray. But if they’re truly God’s children, there’s a rod of correction prepared for them.

Cowper says of the woodbine when it climbs the ash or beech, that "It does harm even as it adds beauty." This could be the result of sending our children to be educated abroad or of much that passes for culture in our own country. Anything that makes

us unfaithful to the truth is a danger, no matter how much it makes us admired by others. Piety is better than polish, and goodness is better than gentility.