“He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.” — Ecclesiastes 10:9

Oppressors may get their will of poor and needy men as easily as they can
split logs of wood, but they had better mind, for it is a dangerous business,
and a splinter from a tree has often killed the woodman. Jesus is
persecuted in every injured saint, and He is mighty to avenge His beloved
ones. Success in treading down the poor and needy is a thing to be
trembled at: if there be no danger to persecutors here there will be great
danger hereafter.

To cleave wood is a common every-day business, and yet it has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected with your calling and daily life which it will be well for you to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort. Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet…

the devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm
labourer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from temptations
to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do you damage. Those
who dwell at home, and mingle not with the rough world, may yet be
endangered by their very seclusion. Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself
so. Pride may enter a poor man’s heart; avarice may reign in a cottager’s
bosom; uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger, and
envy, and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural abode. Even
in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a little purchase at a
shop may be the first link in a chain of temptations; the mere looking out
of a window may be the beginning of evil. O Lord, how exposed we are!
How shall we be secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only
Thou Thyself art able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Spread Thy
wings over us, and we, like little chickens, will cower down beneath Thee,
and feel ourselves safe!

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Producer: Todd Adkins
Voice Artist: Ian Cullen