T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S store him to health once more. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” We need not deliberately reject eternal life. It is enough not to lay hold upon it. The man with one talent would have buried the five tal ents as quickly as the one if'they had been given him. His method was the product of his character. It did not spring from the size of the trust com mitted to him. SATURDAY, March 5. Matt. 21:17-22. Nothing But leaves. Only once in His earthly life did our Saviour blast any created thing. He did not doom the fijg tree to perpetual barrenness because it bore wild fruit or poisonous fruit but because it produced foliage only. It is a law of nature and of life that what we do not use we lose. Capacity itself is lost through' disuse, while its diligent exercise en larges and ennobles it. This law will determine the final destiny of each in dividual, and will find expression at the judgment day. The curse of eternal barrenness will fall upon the soul which has done nothing with its opportunities upon the earth. “Cast ye the unprofit able servant into outer darkness,” where no ray of the Divine countenance penetrates. “Oh! who shall thus ithe Master meet, And before His awful judgment seat, Lay down for golden sheaves, Nothing but leaves?”- SUNDAY, March 6. Matt. i26:l-13. Jesus Among His Friends. Our Saviour must have found it a sweet and satisfying compensation for being bitterly hated, by His foes in being tenderly loved by His friends. His twelve apostles were steadfast and stal wart in their devotion but there was an inner circle of three upon whom He depended most of all. Among these three was one known as that disciple whom Jesus loved and who leaned upon the Master’s breast at the last supper. The relationship between Master and
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disciple was superceded by fraternal and companionable friendship. What delightful wayside talks they enjoyed as they travelled from place to place! How free and unrestrained their inter course as they sat at meat! The home at Bethany was always open and the Master was always welcome there. Some of His happiest days on earth were spent in its quiet seclusion, min istered unto by those whose greatest joy was to do Him honor. MONDAY, March 7. Romans 16:1-16. Paul and His Friends. This whole chapter is an outflow of Christian love. Between friends there is constant helpfulness and the mutual ministry of love. How much Jonathan and David did for one another! What a blessing Paul must have been to his friends and how richly they repaid him! “Phoebe, a succorer of many and of mine own self: Epaphroditus my brother and fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier and minister to my need.” To have friends a man must show himself friendly. Acquaintances may be numbered by the score, friends may be counted upon the fingers, aye, upon the fingers of a single hand. Numberless are the ways in which friendliness may find expression, a grasp of the hand, ^^lapce of the eye, a kindly word of s^pathy. Affection should not evaporate as mere emotion. It should work through hands and feet as well as lips, and show itself in sacri fice. TUESDAY, March 8.- Mark 14:1-9. The Extravagance of Love. -The affectionate prodigality of Mary stands out in striking contrast with the’ cold calculating economy of Judas. The ointment was not wasted. The Master not only justified but commended the use to which it was put. It is possible to make a good investment with a view to something beside utility. Flowers are better scattered along the earthly pathway of a friend than twined into a funeral wreath for his grave. If this
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