THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Keep them clean (John 13:5, 6). Guide them in the way of peace (Luke 1:79). Pluck them out of the net (Psalm 25:15). Set them on a rock (Psalm 40:2). Light them upon their path (Psalm 119: 105). Bring them within His gates (Psalm 12 2 : 2 ),. —D. L. M. A Wish. —There are many who, with a burdened heart, say: “I wish I were a Christian!” But all your wishing will never make you one. There is a great dif ference between wishing to be one and choosing to be one. A wish is not of itself a purpose. You may wish to go to Wash ington, but unless you act accordingly— unless you make your preparations, go to tfye depot and get your ticket, and, instead of sitting down in the depot and wishing yourself there, get aboard the train— you will never get there. So, if you want to go to the capital of the skies, you must get aboard the line of Christian influences that will bear you there. Inabilityl —“I am unable to come; I am a sinner.” That is just the reason why you are to come to Christ. You are not to stop on account of your sins, but seek the Lord because of them. Suppose the man with a withered hand, whom Christ met in the temple, when Christ bade him “Stretch it forth,” had cried: . “Stretch forth my hand? How can I? It is withered!” Of course his hand would never have been healed. But when he heard the command he obeyed. The same Being who bade him act gave him strength to act. That is just what you have to do. You hear the command. Obey it. —M. C. Peters. Mr. Moody used to say that some preach all doctrine, for the head : that makes an imperfect man. Some preach all expe-
Watchfulness (Revelation 3:2; 1 Corinth ians 16:13). Zeal (Colossians 4:13; Titus 2:14). —S. R. Briggs. “ H e w ill k eep th e feet of Hi* sain ts.” (1 Samuel 2:9). Keep them shod (Ephesians 6:15). Keep them from falling (Jude 24; Psalm 116:8), Silence— A German proverb says: “Speech is silver; silence is gold.” Carlyle ¿ays: “Silence is deep as eternity; speech is shallow as time.’’ Denouncing the vapid verbiage of shallow praters, he again exclaims: “Even triviality and imbecility, that can be silent, how respectable are they in comparison!” Cato says: “I think the first' virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest th$ gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.” He wjio knows when to keep his tongue still has a wise head. Yet, as some one has said, “Silence is just as far from being wisdom as the rattle of an empty wagon is from being music.” Many a man passes for wise simply because he is too big a fool to talk. An Antidote for Frivolity. —Culture is the best antidote for frivolity. We hear of dancing circles, etc. How many reading circles do the young women of high society maintain? Figures would present a sad commentary. Is it not sad that the feet should be educated at the expense of the head and heart? How to Drive the Children Away from Home. —Reserve all your social charms for strangers abroad; be dull at home; don t talk; forbid your children to come into the nicely-furnished rooms; have no amuse ments and no pleasures; make home as irk some as possible; forget that you were once young—and your children will make every possible effort to get from home at night and run the streets.
JOTTINGS
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