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September 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
me to obey these rules which I have found in Thy Word, and, O Lord, help me to make Thee known to others so that they will know Thee as Thou art.” Pauline drew her set of rules toward her and wrote : The Chief Rule: A girl’s first thought should be: How can I lead this soul to Christ? Let our conduct be such that people may not be afraid to come, but may be irresistibly drawn to our Saviour. “What is the fairest flower ?” asked Elise with a smile, an hour later. “Oh, Elise, you know ! Of course the flower of all flowers is the One God calls ‘the Rose of Sharon.’ ’’ ^te. MB L e t S a fed t h e Sage Say I t T HERE came unto me a man who was older than I, and he said, I and my wife, we are hard pressed, and we cannot give money for thè Lord’s work. Yea, we are hardly able to live on our income. And I said unto him : Cease trying to live on thine income. And he asked, Upon what shall I live if not upon mine income? And I said, Live not upon thine income, but upon thine Outgo. And he said, Thou utterest a dark saying, and it hath no meaning. And I answered, My words are words of wisdom and soberness. No man can live upon money as it cometh in, but only as it goeth out. And he said, That is true enough, but if more goeth out than cometh in, surely he will be in poverty, and come to want, and his children shall cry for bread. And I said, How old art thou, and how old is thy wife, and how old are thy children, that are to cry for bread ? And he said, I am three score and seven years old, and my wife is as old as she feeleth and looketh, and my children are grown and married. And I said, Wherefore should’st thou and thy wife seek to live upon thine income from thine investments? And he said, Any other method is ruinous. And I said, Not so. How much money did thy father leave thee? And he said, Not a cent. I worked hard for every dollar that I ever had. And I said, How much dost thou plan to leave thy children ? And he said, A few thousand shekels each. And I said, See that thou do it not. Take account of thy property, and make it last as long as thou and thy wife shall live, and blow it in. And he said, Dost thou practice what thou dost preach? And I said, I started each of my children in life with a good education and one hundred shekels, and that is enough. As for what Keturah and I have saved, we intend to spend it, and not deprive our children of the joy which we have had of struggling and saving. And he said, Thy children will be bitterly disappointed. And I said, Not so. My children are all capable of taking care of themselves, and they will rejoice in every cent which their parents enjoy, and so will thine. And he said, May it be that the bankers and usurers can tell me how long my money will last for me and my wife, if we seek not to save it for our children ? And I said, They surely can; for most of the wis
dom that the bankers have is in the form of interest tables and annuity tables which other men have compiled, and even the Bible societies and the missionary societies know that much about a man’s use of his money. And he said, If it were so, then could I and my wife dismiss anxiety and increase our gifts for sundry good causes, and live joyously the years that are before us. And I said, Go to it. It were well for thee and for the thousand other men of thine age to discover what I have told to thee. Thou needest not to worry about living upon thine income; live upon thine outgo, and behold, thou hast enough and more. Now these are words of wisdom that I proclaim unto all men and women who have reached the age of three score, and have laid aside a little money. Lay not up for your children treasures on earth, where lawyers thrive on contests to break the will, and children spend in folly what their parents have earned with toil. Hast thou not toiled for these children since ever they were born, and nurtured them and educated them and given them a start in life? Go to, now, and let thy gifts to thy children be in spiritual things, so that they wait not eagerly for thy death, but dismiss anxiety and care from thy life, and live upon thine outgo. And thou shalt have treasure for the work of God, and cash and grace sufficient for thy need.— Canadian Baptist. M D iv ine Love R ebu ffed This was the sad lament which registered the grief which the Saviour felt when His love was spurned and rebuffed by those whom He came to seek and to save. John spoke truly when he wrote the words in his first chapter, “He came unto his own and his own received him not.” Deeper yet was the sting of grief when He stood on the heights that commanded a view of Jerusalem and shed tears because His own knew not the day of their visitation. His longing to bring them into fellowship with the Father, and His profound sorrow because of their unbelief, find eloquent expression in the immortal words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kUlest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee! How oft would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, but ye would not.” It is the wail of a love so divine, so infinitely rich and impressive that only those who are “born from above” can measure its beauty and its depth. Christ gave Nicodemus a glimpse of that love when He uttered those wonderful words which are the Gos pel in a nutshell: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” —words that make an appeal to the heart such as no preachments of man can ever make. Here is an offer of life to the human race that is dead in trespasses and in sins which only the few are ready to welcome and receive; for many are called but few chosen. The saddest tragedy in life is man’s rejection of God’s abounding love in Christ. “How oft would I, but ye would not,” rings down through the cen turies as Christ’s great lamentation. It is a heartrending fact that “wide is the gate, and broad the way that leadeth to destruction, and many go in thereat.” The words of Christ still keep ringing in men’s ears, “And ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life.” O Thou Giver of light and life, grant that our ears may be open to hear Thy blessed invitation, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” Remove the blind ness of our hearts that we may see Thee and know Thee. Amen.— The Lutheran.
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