There is something in the character of some men which resembles a burnt loaf: a cake left too long with one side exposed to the fire till it has caught and been scorched, while the other side is still mere dough.
The character described is easily legible. It is that in which there is a too-much and a too-little. Every part of the mind and life the principles, the affections, the temper, and the spirit; the motives and conduct, the feelings towards God and the feelings towards man ought to be alike and equally influenced by the presence of the Holy Spirit within. The cake is imperfectly mixed, imperfectly leavened, or imperfectly baked if it be not so. It is the want of this unity, this coherence and consistency of parts, this combination and harmony of all elements in one whole, which makes the words true of any human character, "Ephraim is a cake not turned."
I. There is, first, the case which the context seems to point to; an inconsistency arising from too much of voluntary intermixture with the world.
II. Or again, there is the still sadder case, if it be possible, of one who is tied and bound by the chain of some evil habit.
III. How applicable is the description of the text to some characters to which we can scarcely deny the title of religious; some which, perhaps, most confidently arrogate that title to themselves. How often have we seen in such persons zeal without tenderness; energy without repose; eagerness for what they deem truths, without charity towards those whom they count in error.
IV. And if applicable thus far to Christian men, what shall we say of the bearing of the subject upon persons who have not yet taken a decisive step towards Christ's service. In many of them conscience is at variance with practice, conviction with conduct. You will never be really happy until your life is at one. Unity is happiness, and unity is strength. If you see that the Lord is God, follow Him; follow Him whithersoever He goeth.
C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness,p. 65.
References: Hosea 7:8. Spurgeon, Morning, by Morning,p. 175; J. Baines, Sermons,p. 100.