A Dull or a Fast Sailer?

Suppose a man should sail, all the boiling and blazing day, round and round an old Dutch ship in the harbour, and the next day you should see him, like a magnified fly, creeping up and down the masts and spars, and examining the rigging, and you should ask him what he was doing, and he should answer, ‘I have heard that this ship is a dull sailer, and I want to look at it and see’. Could he ever find out in this way? No. Let him weigh anchor and spread the canvas, and take the wind and bear away, if he would know how she sails.

So, if a Christian would learn his true state, let him not row round the hull of his self-consciousness and creep up and down the masts and spars of his feelings and affections; but let him spread the sails of resolution, and bear away on the ocean of duty. Then he shall know whether he be a dull or a fast sailer.

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