are trying to get to the moon when we don’t know how to live on earth. When the world is a madhouse and the inmates try to run the asylum, the man who knows his Bible finds it sweeter than honey and the honey comb. That day will not overtake him as a thief. “Watch ye therefore, and pray always.” Keep close to the bit tersweet Book, and be prepared for its message of joy, while at the same time prepared to answer its challenge to sacrifice. BORROWED GEMS " I ’ll lend you for a little time A child of mine,” He said, “For you to love the while he lives And mourn for when he’s dead, It may be five or seven years Or twenty-two or three, But -will you, till I call Him back, Take care of him for Me? He’ll bring his charm to gladden you, And shall his stay make brief; You’ll have his lovely memories As solace for your grief. "I cannot promise he will stay, Since all from earth return, But-there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn. I’ve looked the wide world over In my search for teachers true And from the throng that crowds life’s lanes I have selected you. Now will you give him all your love, Nor think the labor vain, Nor hate Me when I call for him To take him back again?” I fancied that I heard you say, “Dear Lord, Thy will be done, For all the joy Thy child shall bring, The risk of grief we’ll run. We’ll shelter him with tenderness, We’ll love him while we may, And for happiness we have known Forever grateful stay. But should the angels call for him Much sooner than we planned, We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes And by grace understand.”
young people, giving them the Gos pel and preaching Christianity as though it were just a better way to have a good time. We try to get the youth to volunteer for the Lord's service saying, “Here am I, Lord,” like Isaiah, but before they have first said, “Woe is me.” The latter sym bolizes crucifixion and death to self. If you take the Bible seriously, and you should, you will find that when you taste it it will be sweet, but when you swallow it, it may be come bitter. Too many “Bible-tast- ers” have never really swallowed it, making it their daily food. The Bible is bittersweet as it re lates to the days in which we live. We are in the atomic age, and the watchman studies the radar screen. The best sentinel for the ramparts o’er which we watch is this old Book. In these frightening hours, it still says, “The morning comes and also the night.” This is a bittersweet pre diction. For the Christian, good news is -bad news, and bad news is good news. When they shall say, “Peace and security,” that sounds like good news, but sudden destruction comes. On the other hand, “distress of na tions,” “perplexity,” “men’s hearts failing them” indicate bad news. The Christian, however, is told to look up, to lift up his head for our redemption draweth nigh. What is bitter for the unprepared is sweet for those who are ready. The only correct interpretation of what is going on in America as well as around the world is not learned from news commentators or histo rians, but rather from the Word of God. It is a waste of time to discuss world events with people who know nothing of the Bible and its escha tology. It is a different language. There isn’t any dialogue there until their eyes are opened to the truth. The angels must look on in wonder at the stupidity of the human race in graduate school scientifically and still in kindergarten spiritually. Here we 22
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