418 SUNDAY, April 25. Heb. 4:1-16. The Promise and Our Responsibility. The writer of the Epistle to the He brews declares that rest was promised to Israel in the land of Canaan. This was a symbol of the eternal rest of the people of God. Some of them came short of it through unbelief. Their fail ure is a warning to us not to follow their example. The chapter shows that God has given a similar promise of rest to all his people to be entered upon by faith. This creates responsibility not only for the exercise of faith but for obedience also. Heaven is obtained by diligence. No one enters there who does not earnestly desire it and make sin cere efforts to reach it. Unbelief is that which prevents men from making these efforts and from giving all diligence to make their calling and, election sure. MONDAY, April 26. 1 Sam. 1:9-18, 27, 28. Samuel Given and Lent to the Lord. Samuel means “ asked of God.” ./ He was a child of prayer and promise. His mother was a woman of deep spiritual ity. She sought from God the gift of a child with passionate intensity of prayer. Before his birth she dedicated him to the life and calling of a Nazarite. As soon as he could leave his mother, he was brought to the tabernacle at Shiloh where he was solemnly conse crated to God and His service. A godly ancestry is something to be thankful for and imposes great responsibilities. 2 Tim. 1:5. Acts 2:39. Piety however is not hereditary. Phil. 3:4-8. Eugenics cannot eliminate original sin nor obviate the necessity of the new birth. Frances Willard begins her autobiography by saying, “ I wa$ a welcome child.” God pity the poor children who are not. TUESDAY, April 27. 1 Sam. 2:1-11. Hannah’s Thanksgiving. Hannah gives us an example of a model prayer of faith. Its basis is a
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S real need, ch. 1:2, 6, 7. There is a defi nite petition, ch. 1:10-11, complete con secration, vs. 11, earnest importunity, vs. 12, reality, (in her heart) vs. 13, true faith, vs. 18, prevailing with God, vs. 19, 20, confident assurance, vs. 20, fidelity, vs. 22-24, public testimony, vs. 27, persistent faithfulness,,vs. 28 and last of all, triumphant praise. Her de vout spiritual-mindedness is seen in her paean of praise which is virtually appro priated and repeated by Mary the mother of our Lord in the Magnificat. Luke 2:46-55. These two godly women had much in common. The inner life of each is revealed in her song of praise since out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. WEDNESDAY, April 28. 1 Sam. 2:18- 20, 26. Samuel Serving Ell. From his earliest years, Samuel dwelt in the sanctuary and attended con stantly upon its services. He “ minis tered before the Lord” under the train ing and direction of Eli. This was his apprenticeship for the sterner and more rigorous service of his later public life. He was thus fitted to be the mentor and judge of Israel and strengthened to ex ecute the Divine commands, even such strenuous ones as that of “ hewing Agag in pieces before the Lord.” 1 Sam. 15: 33. Obedience to lawful authority is the first essential of religious training. Christian nurture will not make a child a Christian but it must follow conver sion if there is to be an established and fruitful life. Deut. 6:4-9, 2 Tim. 3:14- 15. The home and Bible school are the places where the child should learn sub mission to authority and obedience to law. THURSDAY, April 29. 1 Sam. 3:1-13, 19, 20. The Call of the Boy Samuel. How old must a child be in order to be converted? Children differ in pre-,
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