I have read of an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the Prodigal Son. He searched through the mad-houses, and work-houses, and prisons, to find a man wretched enough to represent the Prodigal, but he could not find one. One day he was walking down the street and he met a beggar; he thought the man would do, and he told him he would pay him well, if he would come to his room, and sit for his picture. The day came, and the man appeared at the artist’s door, and reminded him of his appointment with him. But the artist looked at him and said, "No, I have never seen you before. I made an appointment with a ragged beggar, not with you." But the man persisted, and named the place where they had first met; so the artist asked him what he had been doing. "Well," answered the beggar, "I thought I would dress myself up a bit before I got painted." "Then," said the artist, "I do not want you; I wanted you _as you were, not as you are now_." And, reader, Christ wants _you as you are_, when He first meets you. Without excuses, poor, sinful, and miserable; a broken and a contrite heart He will not despise. "I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, and worn, and sad; I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad." Another very common excuse is, "There is no hurry." Men, and especially young men, think, "Oh! I’ve got life before me, why shouldn’t I amuse myself a bit now? and then, when I’m old, too old for amusement, I’ll give the days of my life to God." I have heard a story, that on one occasion Satan gathered his wicked spirits together, and they took counsel as to how they could best ruin mankind. And some said one thing and some another. One, for instance, stood up and said, "I’ll go and tell them that there’s no God." But Satan said, "No, that won’t do; it’s too old a story; it has been tried and failed." And another rose up and said, "I’ll go and persuade them that the Bible is not true." And Satan replied again, "No, that won’t do either; you might persuade a few, but you would not convince many. But," he added, "I’ll tell you what to do, go and tell them that there’s no hurry, they’ll all believe that." And from that day to this Satan has been telling us that there’s no hurry, and we all _do believe that_. Yes, the very best of us and the very wisest, as well as the worst and most ignorant, still think that there’s no hurry. Morning after morning the sun rises, and every evening he sinks beyond the distant hills. Year by year, spring follows winter, and summer follows spring. Every year we gather in a new harvest, and then the winter evenings are with us once more; and because these things come so regularly and so naturally, we are apt to think that there’s no hurry.