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12 THE PRESBYTEFTA
Devotional and Selections
"BELIEVE AND REST."
"I have a life with Christ .to live,
And, ere 1 live it, must I wait
Till learning can clear answer give
Of this and that book's date?
"I have a life in Christ to live;
1 have a death in Christ to die;
An<I must I wait till science give
All doubts a full reply?
"Nay; rather, while the sea of doubt
Is raging wildly round about,
Questioning of life and death and sin,
Liet me but creep within
Thy fold, 0 Christ, and at Thy feet
Take but the lowest seat;
And hear Thine awful voice repeat,
Jn gentlest accents heavenly sweet,
Come unto me and rest;
Relieve me and be blest "
?Shairn.
THE DISCIPLINE OF LIFE.
Sooner or later- we find out that life is not a holiday,
i,..i - ? i-.? -it i .1 .
uul a uiatipiiuc. vainer ur laicr wc an uiscover tnat
the world is not a play-ground; it is quite clear God
means it for a school. The moment we forget that,
the puzzle of life begins. We try to play in school;
the Master does not mind that so much for its own
sake, for he likes to see his children happy, but in our
playing we neglect our lessons. We do not see how
much there is to learn, and we do not care, but our
Master cares. He has a perfectly overpowering and
inexplicable solicitude for our education; and because
he loves us, he comes into the school sometimes, and
speaks to us. He may speak very softly and gently,
or very loudly. Sometimes a look is enough, and we
understand it, like Peter, and go out at once, and weep
bitterly. Sometimes the voice is like a thunderclap,
startling a summer night. But one thing we may be
sure of?the task he sets us to is never measured by
our delinquency. The discipline may seem far less
than our desert, or even to our eye ten times more.
But it is not measured by these; it is measured by
God's love; measured solely that the scholar may be
better educated when he arrives at his Father. The
discipline of life is a preparation for meeting the Father.
\\ru?~ ...? ~*1 "t~~i?iA t.:_ i ? ? *
i? uv.il wc amvE mcic iu ucnuiu ins ucauiy wc inusi
have the educated eye; and that must be trained here.
We must become so pure in heart?and it needs much
practice?that we shall "see God." That explains life
?why God puts man in the crucible, and makes him
pure by fire.?Henry Drummond.
THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS.
God bless the cheerful person?man, woman or child,
old or young, illiterate or educated, handsome or homely.
What *the sun is to nature, what God is to the
stricken heart, are cheerful persons in the house and
N OF THE SOUTH. March 17, 1909.
by the wayside. They go unobtrusively, unconsciously,
about their mission, happiness beaming from their
faces. We love to sit near them. We love the nature
of their eye, the tone of their voices. Little children
find them out quickly amid the densest crowd and passing
by the knitted brow and compressed lip, glide near,
laying a confiding hand on their knee and lift their
clear, young eyes to those loving faces.?A. A. Willits.
"KEEP CLOSE TO YOUR GUIDE."
It is said that when sight-seers vis't the wonderful
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the guides mount a sort
of pulpit before entering its gloomy depths, and preach
the tourists a sermon. This sermon consists of only
five words, and yet its importance cannot be over-estimated.
These words are: "Keep close* to your guide."
To fall back or depend upon oneself for even one instant
while within this largest known cavern in the
world, may mean death. Its pitfalls are deep and numerous.
Only the guide knows where safety lies.
Even beneath the power of the strongest illumination
the darkness is so intense that but imperfectly are re
veaica its wonder and beauty, its fairy-like magic
haunts, its myriads of scintillating stalactites. But
side by side with ever)- gleaming glory lurks also?
death, sure and certain, unless accompanied by a safe
guide. The Bottomless Pit, the Dead Sea, the Covered
Way, the Solitary Cave, the Covered Pit, the Deserted
Chambers, and the unknown depths of Echo
River, are all ready to greedily claim victims from the
hundreds of tourists who pass wonder-eyed and awestricken
through the vast subterranean passages, chambers
and halls.
Wherein lies their safeguard? Only in obeying faithfully
the admonition of the five-word sermon: "Keep
close to your guide."
Are we not tourists on a longer journey and through
even more devious ways, daily passing marvelous wonders
which have become commonplace to us only because
of our familiarity with them?. Even so we arc
encompassed about with dangers and pitfalls, and our
safety lies in keeping close to our Guide. Worldliness,
perhaps, may estrange us from our Guide more quickly
than almost any other allurement. It is so beautiful;
the ways of pleasure seem so inviting. Let us not be
deceived. Cling close to the guide. Only in daily,
hourly communion; only in earnest, worthy service;
only in giving our best and trusting him for the rest,
lies safety.?Epworth Era.
PRAYER.
Almighty God, we believe in Thy Son Jesus Christ
our only Savior, infinite in power, and infinite in grace,
Thine only Begotten Son, that dwelleth in the bosom
of the Father. He became flesh, and dwelt among us;
and He told us that if we pray unto Thee we shall
receive answers great, tender, ample. We rest upon
His word. We are sure that He who was the truth
told us that which is true, and will not change His
word, or add to it, or take away from it. We stand,
upon it, and watch and treasure it. Amen.