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be well-pleasing unto him [Christ].” This is the highest and strongest mo tive for holy living. In the measure in which we live our Christianity shall we be conscious of His nearness. —Alexander Maclaren. + + + ' Thus Christ Served “Jesus taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise” (John 21:13). Sometimes I grow weary of humble tasks That fall to a housewife’s share, The bread to be baked, and the linen washed, And the house kept sweet and fair. Then I think of a beacon fire that glowed For the fishers of Galilee, And a meal prepared by hands that were scarred Fresh-scarred on a cruel tree. The fire shone warm on- the weary men, There was rest for their tired feet, There were bread and fish from the Master’s hands, And the honeycomb was sweet. O humbled and chastened and rap turous heart, W ill you ever despise again The tasks that the hands of the Son of God Scorned not to perform for men? —Martha Snell Nicholson. + + + Secret Sins “ Thou hast set . . . our secret sins in the light of thy countenance” (Psa. 90:8). The sins which are hardest to ban ish are those ^hidden away in the dark places of our thought or practice: temper, pride, uncharitableness, sen suality. Easily concealed, they make themselves at home within us. “O God, grant us deliverance from the sins that lurk in the shadowy places of our souls.” —Baptist Herald. + + + The Result of Devotion “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me” (1 Tim. 1:12). The secret of fruitfulness lies in our being rather than in our doing. The fruitful tree is the healthy tree, and a healthy tree must be a fruitful tree. If we would be truly fruitful let us see to it that we abide in Christ. Christ’s words are decisive: “Without me ye can do nothing.” Much fruit does not depend upon great gift, but upon great devotedness. —A. J. Pollock.
DEVOTIONAL READINGS Those Who Stand Alone “ Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself” (Psa. 4:3). O Lord, it’s sometimes hard to walk alone While other people take another way, And leave me on the stony road of life ' With a solitary path to walk each day. But in the way that I accept as mine I see Thy guiding beams, a certain light That shows me Thou art near, and then I’m glad I dare to stand alone for what is right! —Selected. + + + Honesty in Prayer “Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God” (Eccl. 5:2). The God who can look upon the heart and who can properly deter mine every reaction in the individual as he is tested, knows us better than we know ourselves. We must, there fore, be perfectly honest in our prayers so as not to overstate our de votion, but only to give an honest ex pression of our feelings. —The New Illustrator. + + + Light and Darkness “A cloud, to lead them the way” (Ex. 13:21). God leads by light and darknesfe, as well as in light and darkness . . . He may make us to know His will by sending a flood of light into our souls, or He may allow darkness to over shadow our spirits when a contem plated step is not in accordance with His will . . . At such times seek His face, and, no matter what the cost, follow His leadings. — Pameii.
may adorn the doctrine of . . . our Saviour” (Tit. 2:9,10). Upon a sundial in Tunbridge Wells are these words: “You can waste me, but you cannot stop me.” What are you doing with your time? When you stand before the God of all the universe, what w ill you say to Him about the wasted time in your life? Live the Christian life carefully, and others will care to live it, too. —Christian Action. + + + Under His Direction “The Lord shall guide thee continu ally” (Isa. 58:11). If we are precisely where our Heav enly Father would have us to be, we are perfectly sure that He w ill pro vide food and raiment, and every thing else. How much of our Chris tian work has been abortive because we have persisted in initiating it for ourselves, instead of ascertaining what God was doing, and where He required our presence! He might test us, but He could not allow us to mis take. — F. B. Meyer. + + + Enablings of Christ’s Love “ Love suffereth long . . . seeketh not its own, is not provoked" (2' Cor. 13:4,5 R.V.). Love affects behavior. It brings out taste and tact in the finer points of conduct. The grace of God puts out that great idol we worship most —• Self. Are you super-Sensitive, touchy? Filled with Christ’s love, we may be grieved often, but exasperated never. — Evangelical Christian. “ So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord” (Psa. 45:11). The King [Christ] is drawn to us, or repelled from us, in the measure of the completeness of our surrender of ourselves to Him. That is what Paul means When he says that he labors that “whether at home or absent, to + + + What the King Desires
+ + + God’s T ime — My Trust
“ Servants . . . not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they
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