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THE K I N G ’ S BU S I N E S S
FISHING FOB THE YOUNG Carefully compiled statistics, made a fte r equally careful investigations, have established th e fact th a t—w ith notable exceptions-—th e larg est propor tion of persons who have been con verted a t all made th e g reat decision between th e ages of twelve and seven teen. F rom twelve to fou rteen is the age of ingenuousness; from fifteen to seventeen, th a t of keen enthusiasm s. W hat can be b etter th a n to capture both these qualities for God? They are re dolent of affection;, of simplicity of belief; of w illingness to be led; of read i ness to be a ttracted by noble ideals; of a chivalrous in stinct to defend the weak and intensé adm iration for d ar ing and heroic achievements. There is an appeal to all these in th e career of God's g reat men in th e Old and New Testam ents and in th e Mission-fields, and uniquely so in th e life and victory of the Son of God. We need to inspire the im agination of th e young, and per haps for th is we need to cultivate more im agination of our own in our p rep ar ation of th e Lesson. Anyway, let us watch prayerfully and carefully as the hands of life’s clock approach th e strik ing hour, and press for decision a t the most favorable opportunity.— G. Camp bell Morgan. GOD’S BEST INSTRUMENTS No man is fit to preach to others till he has seen th e plague of his own h eart, and has been broken w ith a sense of sin. They say th a t th e best ef all fid dles is an old Cremona, and th a t the best of all Cremonas is one th a t has been all “ smashed up ” and glued to g ether again, so as to make it not sim ply as good as new, b u t a g reat deal b etter. So the best of all in strum en ts to sound the music of the gospel is a h e a rt th a t has been broken w ith a sense of sin and then cemented w ith the blood of Jesus.— P. S. Henson, D.D.
ica and England—will not be open to them or others discontented w ith th eir present homes, for England and Amer ica will, it seems certain, be compelled to close th e ir doors to imm igrants for a definite period, no t from any feeling of animosity to th e Jew ish race, h u t in order to have a period of g reater social rest, w ithout th e disturbance caused hy new inflowing people, for the purposes of in tern al reconstruction. Therefore, it becomes a work of hum anity to facil ita te th e creation of a n ational home of refuge for Jews, and it has been though t by statesm en th a t it should be combined w ith the national sentim ent which is so profoundly felt by many Jews for th e land of th e ir ancestors. The word “ nation al” is im portant, especially in the eyes of th e Zionists, who w ant the home in P alestine to be bu ilt up of Jews who are no t con sciously Russian Jews, or, say, English Jews, but, first and only, Jews, Jews who will take p a rt in th e revival of Hebrew national consciousness and n a tional language. Before th e w ar Jews inhabited P ales tine to th e number of about 120,000, which is about one-fifth of th e, total population, bu t th is number h as been much reduced since by th e action of the Turks, who deported large numbers, and by th e em igration of others who refused to stay under Turkish ru le when the country declared w ar against th e Allies, and by th e typhus epidemic which has been so severe during the la st year of th e German-Turkish neglectful ru le.” The problem before th e Peace Conference, therefore, is to establish in P alestine such political and adm inistrative organization as will enable th e Jews from all p arts to build up th e ir national home w ithout in fring ing th e rig h ts of o th er nationalities occupying th e country, and in dealing w ith th is task it will have the best wishes of all who desire to see God’s ancient people back again in th e ir own land.
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