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m ight have rem ained tru e to God, but th e presence of heathen nations in th e ir m idst made it almost impossible for them to keep en tirely separate, I sup pose more lives are ruined th rough th e corruption of evil companionship th an from any o ther cause. Are your com panions all they ought to be? No one is strong enough or wise enough to be safe in constant fellowship w ith per sons of wrong principle, and one who goes by choice into bad company is in grave danger. “Go w ith the wolves,” says a Spanish proverb, “and you will learn to how l.” We are in th e world and daily coming in contact w ith people who scorn th e love of God and look w ith contempt upon our Christ. May we earnestly seek to do them good, for th en and only then can we be safe in th e ir company. Jo sh u a’s Appeal to th e Nation. Jo shua rem inded Israel of all the good things God had done for them . Not one of th e many good th ing s He had prom ised, had failed. Jo shu a gives no cred it to Israel, nor does he tak e any for him self b u t gives God all th e glory. Do ,we always remember to give God th e honor for all good things, even though hum an agencies are used for th e bestowing? In view of all these favors God had conferred upon His peo ple, th e least Israel could do was to love and obey H im and Jo shua appealed to them to obey th e whole law. Israel could not pick and choose w hat they ought to do, and no more can we su it our own convenience. God has laid down ru les for us to follow and has said, “ if ye love me, keep my com mandm ents.” . We cannot become a t tached to God from a mere sense of duty. W hat we do must be done from love and not compulsion. Jo sh u a’s appeal was th re e -fo ld .' F irs t— he urged them to be courageous, for God was fighting for them ; Second, to be cau tious, for in th e m idst of ido latry th ere was erro r on every hand ; and th ird ,
to be very steadfast, clinging to God and depending entirely upon Him, for victory could be th e irs only by being tru e servants of His. The children of God were few and weak compared w ith the enemies, b u t victory is possible in spite of app aren t weakness when God prom ises it. The secret of victory is the help of God. Joshua felt, even w ith th is appeal, th a t the people had not made th e ir decision whole-heartedly for God, for while openly professing to serve God, they were secretly worship ping idols, and urged th a t they make an imm ediate choice as to whom they would serve. The Gospel demands th a t we too, decide a t once. 2 Cor. 6:2. Jo shua announced "openly where he stood when he said “As for me and my house, we will serve th e Lord.” Are you try ing to serve God and the world too? We read in Luke 16:13 th a t it is impossible to do it. Israel was not given possession of Canaan to lead the same unholy lives as, those who were driven out. Every tim e Israel entered • into a compact w ith th e heathen n a tions, it fell under th e hand of the heathen. So w ith th e Christian. God demands a separated life and any alli ance w ith th e world corrupts and destroys. Is yours a separated life? Loving and Obeying God. Joshua 23 :1 ; 24:28. Memory Verse: “Take good heed th erefo re unto yourselves, th a t ye love th e Lord your God.” Jo shua 23:11. Approach: Have you boys and girls seen a p arro t? W hat are they like? Some of them can ta lk very plain. Once th e re was a p a rro t w ith a fine voice— . for a p arro t— and BEGINNERS could ta lk q u i t e AND PRIMARY plain. One tim e Mabel L. M errill he was p u t in a cage w ith s o m e o th er p arro ts who had no p retty ways; they could not talk , ju s t m u tter
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