Conversion Not the Whole of Religion

Charles Hodge, The Way of Life, p. 204:

It is natural for those who have experienced the agitations which frequently attend upon conversion, and have felt the peace which flows from a hope of acceptance with God, to imagine that the conflict is over, the victory won, and the work of religion accomplished. This imagination is soon dissipated. Birth is not the whole of life; neither is conversion the whole of religion. A young mother may, in the fulness of her joy, forget for a moment the great duties of her vocation that lie before her; but when she looks upon her infant, so wonderful in its organization, and instinct with an immortal spirit, she feels that it is entirely dependent. An hour's neglect might prove its ruin. Thus the young Christian, although at first disposed to think that his work is finished, soon finds that the feeble principle of spiritual life needs to be watched and nourished with ceaseless care. If abandoned at its birth, it must perish as certainly and as speedily as an exposed infant.