corns with our teeth. At our evening worship, It is faith. On Thursday and Friday there came a great storm. And I had at last almost made up my mind to venture across the river, when the noise of waggon wheels brought me to my knees to thank God." The waggon proved to be an Englishman's, and was the means of delivering the unfortunate missionary. Brothers Beneke and Schulenberg had an adventure last year. "Our oxen had caught the prevalent disease, and we had to move lei. surely. As we jogged slowly along, the sun far down behind the neighbouring hill and the dew already on the grass, our driver called out, Tau! bonau! tau! tau! i.e., lion! see! lion! lion! As the oxen took fright and rushed on, we had no time to prepare, but passed immediately in front of the lion, who lay about ten paces from the path. He lay quiet, but as if he did not quite trust us, and we were without defence; for though we had a small gun in the waggon, that is nothing against a lion. The lion is sometimes a thoroughly wicked beast, and we cannot thank the Lord enough that He has defended us." And to prove the wickedness of the lion, they add the following story which proves much more, and that wickedness may not be very remote from cowardice. worth telling. "Just before Christmas, a farmer, named Viljoen, with his son and son-in-law, were out hunting. Viljoen rode into the bush, out of sight of the others, started a herd of spring. bocks and pursued them, when a lion, that had been concealed behind an ant-hill, sprang out on him, seized him in his teeth, and tore him from his horse. Once on the ground, the lion let him go to Explorations like these were necessarily attended seize him again by the arm and breast. At this by much inconvenience, and some danger. They re- moment the horse sprung aside, and the saddle quire an unlimited capacity of "roughing it." Some- and spurs which had caught to his tail made a times the missionary was left alone, and fell sick. noise that the lion did not recognise. He let the Sometimes he was cast upon his own address and man go, and withdrew six paces. Viljoen reached ready wit for his personal safety. It is the rough-out for his gun, caught it, and thought to shoot; est and sternest side of missionary labour that is but from his wounds he was unable. The lion still exposed to us throughout. Hohls was obliged | remained quietly looking. Viljoen then managed once to reach the brethren who were eight hours to crawl away to his horse about fifty paces off, distant. He was unwell and the way was severe, mounted, and rejoined his companions, the lion a continuous ascent up a bare hill, on which the keeping his old place, and making no effort at sun beat, and where the stones pierced the feet. pursuit." Beneke wisely subjoins—“You see, if He was soon compelled to stop, and his illness the lion had attacked us, we might have come assumed a dangerous form. "There was not a off but badly." human being near him; but the Lord was there; and as he cried to Him out of a full heart, Lord, leave not me a poor sinner! the Lord kept His promise- Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee."" He was so far strengthened that, before evening, he reached the end of his journey. Wiese once found himself many days' journey from any human habitation, with a river before him, which he could not ford, and with no prospect of food. Six Adventures of a pleasanter kind are also chronicled, and none more merrily than what befell some too-eager bridegrooms at Natal. For when the first ship that carried out the brides reached the harbour, the brethren had been waiting with a natural anxiety; and, to their dismay, contrary winds and low tides prevented her entrance. days they waited, making telescopic observations, until an English merchant, whose wife was a pas"There were many wild ani-senger on board, proposed sailing out to the "Canmals in the neighbourhood, especially hyenas, and dace." As the wind blew from shore, the boat a few paces off the holes of two large serpents. reached safely and the brides and bridegrooms imCrocodiles of from twelve to eighteen feet long mediately set off in hope of a speedy landing. haunted the river and were dreaded in the neigh- But, instead of returning, they disappeared in the bourhood, and I lay only a few steps from the tall offing. The wind had caught their boat and carreeds that covered the banks, and which are a ried them out its own way. To add to their disfavourite resort of these beasts. As it was new tress, the sea-sickness broke out afresh. “And had moon, the evenings and nights were very dark. not the 'Candace' made sail and captured these You may imagine that I prayed fervently to the involuntary fugitives, who knows where they would Lord; yet on the two first evenings, I could not have drifted? I said before, that brides and brideavoid fear, which plainly showed my want of grooms are strange people; is it not true? If they had just stayed quietly on board instead of making this wonderful journey out into the ocean!" That the missionaries are men of the spirit of their pastor may be naturally supposed; that they set, like him, the life of faith, the communion of prayer, above everything in the Christian walk. They are in the habit not only of tracing, with devout minds, the hand of the Lord in all their circumstances, but of appealing to Him on occasions when most persons would say it was uncalled for and unreasonable. Their simplicity of character is more manifest in nothing than in their simplicity of faith, "The first calm," write the first passengers, "was in the Bay of Biscay, and lasted Saturday and Sunday. As the missionaries sat with the mate upon the cabin roof, the latter said, with a sailor's roughness of expression; "If we had but the bellows, we would make wind." One brother, deeply grieved, said to him, "Dear friend, that would not help us much. Rather let us say it to the Lord Jesus, and you will see if we have not wind before this day is over." He had scarcely spoken the words when he felt himself uneasy, as he considered how much they meant. Then he went below, bent his knees before the Lord, and prayed: "Dear Saviour, I have spoken in faith on Thee; I humbly beg of Thee, let me not be put to shame. See, I have sought only Thy glory. When Thy day is over, give, I beseech Thee, favourable wind, that men may know Thou art a living Saviour." So he prayed as a child, and when they woke the next morning, the wind was blowing freshly. Another time, when the calm had lasted longer, they confessed all their sins in the common prayer upon the quarter-deck, gave themselves into the Lord's hand, begged for grace and forgiveness, and received boldness and joy to pray for wind. And after some hours had passed, to the astonishment of the ship's company, they had so favourable a wind that they sailed ten miles in an hour." A third time, after long calm, a brother prayed thus to the Lord for favouring wind: "Lord, Thou givest them that fear Thee the desires of their heart, and dost help them; help us now, that we may no longer be becalmed upon the sea; help us on our journey, Thou who ridest on the wings of the wind." He was so joyful over this word of the Lord, that he rose up, and said in his heart, "Now I have already that for which I prayed." After the prayer, one of the crew stepped over to the helmsman, and said, half mocking, half in earnest, "Now we shall have wind: didn't you hear the prayer? It doesn't look very like it!" So he said, and half an hour after there came so strong a blast that the waves broke over the ship. These instances are all from one voyage. Others were furnished afterwards. In 1858, Filter stood one evening by the captain in the cabin. The wind was against them, and very slight. "The captain was depressed by the length of the journey. Brother Bakeberg and I sought to comfort him, to give him courage, and point him to the arm of the Lord, which is not yet shortened. Evening prayer followed, and this day it fell to me. The day before I had held a Bible-hour on Acts iv. 23-37, and dwelt especially on the power of common prayer. Cast down, not so much by the length of the journey as by the captain's complaint, I first begged of the Lord if it were His will. It now seemed to me that for this time I could pray without limita tion. He surely must soon carry us on; He surely would not permit the world to say they must take longer time on the way than we. After prayer, I read between decks with the brethren and sisters out of H. Müller's Heavenly Kiss of Love. When the reading was over, Brother Bakeberg came to say that the sailors expected a storm from the south-east. I looked out, and saw lightning in that direction. But, I thought, the Lord can well defend us; and I went down and said, I could see in the change of weather nothing but an answer to prayer. The storm kept off, and about half-past ten the wind was so favourable that we made 240 miles in twenty-four hours." An instance, under somewhat different circumstances, is also lovingly recorded. Sailing up to Zanzibar, they struck on a coral reef, and the wind fell into a perfect calm. "What was to be done? What else than work and pray? Our brethren first joined in prayer, and begged the Lord for His gracious help. Then they left two in prayer, and the rest all sprang into the boats with the sailors in order to tow off the ship. Just as they were in the heat of their work, the wind rose off the land, and in an hour and a half the ship was got off the reef without injury." And to take but one more illustration of this spirit. A colonist writes: "We were long without money, and had no more than tenpence among sixteen of us. During this time we had several Kaffirs employed, who demanded their wages at the end of the month. In these days we truly marked the blessing of the Lord, and had joy in our work; for when the day came that a Kaffir had to be paid, the Lord had always sent us work, and as it was settled for at once, we were never brought to shame, but were always able to pay even though we had only received the money an hour before. In those days, we often marked how the Lord hears the prayers of His children and does not suffer them to be brought to shame. For we had ever more cause to thank and praise than even to pray." To some it may be curious to trace the influence of Hermannsburg life and Hermannsburg teaching on the members of the successive emigrations; to note how that influence colours their feelings and actions, and prompts them in situations altogether unlike those of their home. The peculiar way in which this influence asserts itself may seem to them childish, and by itself only fit to provoke a smile. But as illustrating the predominant power of a remarkable man, it is worth examination. There are others who may thankfully recognise in it that secret of the Lord which is with them that fear Him; who will feel in these stories of faith not what is childish, but what is child-like; who will regard them not as the mere copy of another's acts, the mere traces of the profound impression made by a strong nature, but as the natural outcome of a common spiritual sense in their souls and his. The missions and the men are left to the consideration of both these classes. The one are likely to find something which their theory does not explain; the others are sure to be confirmed in the comfort and reality of prayer. The direct work of the mission, its success, have not been dwelt on. There are obvious reasons. It is only seven years planted in Africa, too short a time for the ripening of much fruit. It is up to this date experimental, and is but now completing its organization. It has been the growth of circumstances, and its form is not due to any definite plan, but to the necessities that forced And therefore it can it in particular directions. scarcely be judged like an agency that has been wrought according to a previously fixed scheme. But the point of interest in it is not so much the work it is accomplishing, although that were as marvellous as among the Karens, or the Kolis, or the Fijians; it is the origin and mode of the mission which distinguish it. Its success is unequivocal. It has teachers among the Natal Kaffirs, the Zulus, the Bamangwatos, the Bechuanas, and minor tribes; and the teachers occupy the highest position, and have the freest access, and each of them writes that the people receive the Word with gladness. It has at present more important openings than any other mission of Southern Africa, invitations which must be refused welcome everywhere. It has gathered more than a hundred of the heathen into the church, and has various rude churches filled with native audiences.* But these are results which it has in common with other missions, and these alone perhaps would scarcely justify a separate notice. It is not its records of conversion, it is its character that fixes our attention and wonder. Whatever may throw light on the character of the mission is welcome, and the more we know of Mr. Harms and his "children," the more light is thrown. It is a peasant mission; a mere local and parochial mission. There can be nothing more humble and unambitious than its origin,-the zeal of a plain, country clergyman labouring among secluded country people; nothing less likely to account for it than its centre being at Hermannsburg on the Heath. The source of its extraordinary vitality and power and progress, and at the same time the hope of its success, is this, that it is a work of faith, and a mission of prayer.+ GOOD WORDS FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. DECEMBER 18. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him."COL. ii. 9, 10. To have nothing in ourselves,-to be complete in Him, this is what we ought to feel ourselves; and happy is it for us if every fresh discovery of our own sins, shortcomings, and infirmities, leads us to a fresh discovery of some of the fulness in Christ by which He There are 3 stations, with 50 baptized, in the colony of Natal; 3 stations, with 45 baptized, among the Bechuanas; 2 stations, with 15 baptized, among the Zulus; and another station, which is just now established. While writing this, a further proof of the earnestness of the people has just been given. A hundred young persons have offered themselves to the heathen. Next year a new mission-house will be built, so that 48 candidates may be received in future, and a band of missionaries may sail to Africa every two years. "To God only wise be glory, through Jesus Christ, for ever. Amen." makes His people complete in Him. He calls us to a wondrous union with Himself, and it is only while we "abide in Him" by virtue of this union, that we can either live or bear fruit. For every want of ours, there is a supply with Him. Am I weary and heavy-laden? He says, "I will give you rest." Am I ignorant and out of the way? He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Am I guilty? He is the propitiation for our sins. Am I sorrowful? He says, "I am He that comforteth you." Am I in darkness? He is "the light of the world," the "sun of righteousness," the "bright and morning star." Do I want a friend? He is a "friend that sticketh closer than a brother." If I am poor-He is the Lord over all, rich in mercy to all that call upon Him. If I am weak and foolish-He is "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." O to know Him more, in all His fulness! O to know myself in such a way that the sense of helplessness and sin may more and more endear to me this gracious Saviour! 66 DECEMBER 19. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession."— HEBREWS iv. 14. It seems to be a part of natural religion, as it cer tainly is of revealed religion, that without a priest and a sacrifice guilty man cannot approach a holy God. Even the heathen feel this, and men sin against an instinct of nature as well as against God's Word, when, in the pride of a false philosophy, they think to approach God acceptably without a propitiation-a mediator. "We have a great High Priest;" we are not left in darkness; we know through whom we may come to our God. Let us then "hold fast our profession," and neither venture on the one hand, to make our approaches to God without Christ, nor on the other, make His mighty priesthood virtually of no effect by looking either to priests on earth or saints in heaven, to do for us what He alone can do. He is the High Priest for ever; His work of intercession never ceases, though His work of atonement for our sins was perfected for ever, when His voice proclaimed, in His hour of death and of victory, the awful words, "It is finished!" Then our High Priest, "after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;" and there he sits, and "sees of the travail of his soul and is satisfied," as often as He sees poor sinners coming back to their Father as returning penitents, and saying, "Lord, save me, for Jesus Christ's sake!" "By Thee my prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled; Satan accuses me in vain, And I am owned a child." DECEMBER 20. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."-MATT. v. 5. "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." -2 COR. vi. 10. Teach me, O Lord, the secret of this rich poverty! May I look at the example of Him who, though Lord of all, "had not where to lay his head;" and may I learn from Him to be indeed meek and lowly in heart. The meek even now inherit the earth, for they can enjoy it in the light of God's countenance, though not a foot of it may be theirs in the worldly sense of possession. They delight to trace God's hand in its beauties, and what matters it to them who possesses its hills and its valleys, as long as they can "Lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, And smiling say, 'My Father made them all!** They possess all things, in possessing Christ! O let this thought make us watchful against entangling our hearts with earthly things; if the heart is filled with the work, it cannot be filled with Christ; and just inasmuch as we grasp with eagerness the perishing goods of time, do we loosen our grasp of faith on the things that are within the veil, the real riches of eternity. We are not called to the artificial device of making the cloister vow of poverty, but all the more is it our high privilege as well as duty, so to empty our hearts of this world's treasures, as to have them filled with God's treasures of heavenly grace. DECEMBER 21. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations."-1 PETER i. 6. How many dear children of God are "in heaviness through manifold temptations!" How few children of God attain their heavenly rest without passing through this training, without being "for a season in heaviness !" But there is a need-be for every such season; we can often, even now, see this; we shall see it all hereafter, and be enabled to praise Him for all, not in faith only, but with full sight of His wise love to us. This life is so short, we have not time to spend it all in ease; we must have our school-time as well as our play, for many lessons have to be learned, and some are very hard ones! Therefore we are often "in heaviness,' bowed down in spirit, mourning for dear ones taken from us, or pining on weary sick beds, but it is only "for a season. Our Lord leaves none of those who love Him in that awful darkness, which is "not for a season," but for ever! And even during the time of heaviness He tells them of an inheritance reserved in heaven for them, and of a power that is able to keep them through faith unto salvation, in which even now they may greatly rejoice." DECEMBER 22. O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"-ROM. xi. 33. All Thy works praise Thee, O Lord! but it is the high privilege of man alone, the chief of Thy works below, to praise Thee intelligently, and if he cannot praise as the angels do, who behold Thee above, he can, at least, lift up his eyes so far as to see that Thy glory is unsearchable, and look into the riches of Thy wisdom and knowledge, so far as to exclaim, "O the depth "All thy works shall praise thee; and thy saints shall bless thee; they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." It was the consideration of the glory of His kingdom and the wonders of His government in dealing with Jews and Gentiles according to the good pleasure of His will, that drew forth from St. Paul this burst of adoration; those things which most of all excite the enmity of the carnal heart are those which called forth the apostle's loudest notes of praise, for he had faith; he believed in the wisdom and love and mercy of his God; and keeping in mind that God is a King as well as a Father, he bowed in lowly submission and loving confidence. Let this mind be in me, O God! DECEMBER 23. "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth."-Isa. xxx. 1, 2. How many of our sorrows arise from our rebellious refusal to take counsel of the Lord! He offers us His guidance; He invites us in everything to make known our requests unto Him, but how often do we act like those rebellious Israelites whom the Prophet in this chapter so solemnly rebukes for their contempt of God's word and counsel! The folly of a child who would reject his parent's skilful guidance, and prefer to go alone through a wide desert on a dark night, would be nothing to the folly of those who reject the only hand that can help them, the only skill that can guide them in the long journey of life, and prefer to follow the guidance of their own ignorance to that of heavenly wisdom. Lord, do Thou enable me in all things to seek and to follow Thy counsel, and grant, that having made known my requests in childlike confidence to Thee, I may experience the fulfilment of Thy promise, that shall keep your hearts and minds, through Christ "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, Jesus." DECEMBER 24. "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels."-LUKE ix. 26. "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him also shall the Son of man confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God."-LUKE xii. 8, 9. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."-ROMANS X. 10. Strange indeed it must seem to the "holy angels" that a man should ever be ashamed of Christ: and yet the Lord knew the need of this solemn warning, and on at least two different occasions repeated it in the ears of His disciples. Have I thought enough of the necessity of confessing Christ as well as believing on Christ? this, but Christ's own word stands unchanged, an awful Men utter many sophistries in these days to get rid of witness against even the coward's wish to escape from the duty. Lord, make me a true disciple of Christ, and suffer me not to be ever ashamed of being so! May I exercise a constant guard on myself, and never for a moment even wish to shrink from confessing my Lord! DECEMBER 25. "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."-MATT. i. 1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."JOHN i. 1. How wonderful, how mysterious, how glorious is the link which connects these two verses,-"the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!" Jesus the Son of God became the Son of Man! Let us not ask how this could be! But with lowly faith in this grand truth, let us ask why it was so? Why did the Son of God take our nature upon Him?-and how full an answer do we receive; He came to "save his people from their sins." He came to redeem us; to live as our example, to die as our atonement; for when we had destroyed ourselves through sin, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Grant, O God, that we may so fix the eye of faith upon this glorious Saviour, God and Man, that we may behold His glory both now and for ever! May we see how strong He is to save, and how willing to help; how mighty as God to deliver us, how tender and loving as man to sympathize with us; a perfect Saviour,-the Word who was in the beginning,-yet the babe born in Bethlehem ! DECEMBER 26. "Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under the shadow of thy wings."-PSALM Xvii. 8. "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye."-ZECHARIAH ii. 8. Surely the Psalmist's prayer must have been in the Prophet's mind when he uttered this promise, for it is, like the petition, a very peculiar and expressive one. We know how tenderly sensitive is the "apple of the eye," so that we guard it from the slightest touch by involuntary instinct; and the prayer to be so guarded, is founded alike on a deep feeling of weakness and a strong faith in God's care. The promise is a beautiful response to the petition; nothing can more fully set forth the tender care of God for His own people. We ask with wonder, Can it be that Thou, O Holy One, dost look with such regard on such as we? Well may we be amazed at Thy condescension and pity, and rejoice to believe that whatever trials we may meet with, Thou dost not forget us, Thou dost never forsake us! And if Thy people are so dear to Thee, how precious ought they to be in our eyes! how careful should we be lest we offend one of the least of Thy little ones! How willingly should we open our hearts to receive in love all those whom Thou, our Father, dost "keep as the apple of the eye!" DECEMBER 27. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." -PHIL. iii. 10. "The fellowship of His sufferings,"-how may this be known? How can we in any measure or manner enter into it? We can only say, Lord, teach us! Lead us into this knowledge which St. Paul aimed at attaining! Let us stand in spirit with those women who stood by the cross of Jesus, and beheld with their own weeping eyes all His pains and woes; and let us remember the cause of those sufferings, and behold Him as the Lamb of God slain for the sin of the world! Many there were in the days of His flesh who saw the cross of Christ with their bodily eyes, but not with the eye of faith. May ours be the blessing promised to those who, on the contrary, "have not seen, and yet have believed;" when we meditate on His sufferings, may we think of Him as suffering for us, and be enabled to say with St. Paul, "I am crucified with Christ." DECEMBER 28. "God is known in her palaces for a refuge."-Ps. xlviii. 3. The dwellers in "palaces" need God for a refuge as much as the dwellers in the meanest abodes of poverty. Rank and riches can neither shut out sorrow nor save from sin; education and refinement cannot bring the soul nearer to Christ; and it is a solemn thought for the rich, and a fearful thought for those who trust in riches, that it is Jesus Himself who has said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" Oh, if we could see things as God sees them, how lightly would we esteem all the wealth of palaces where God was not known as a refuge! How little would we value a place in them compared with a place in God's house! How poor would the honours of this world seem in comparison with the honour of being a child of God, an heir of glory! And yet, alas! how often do we see even Christian men pressing on as eagerly in the race for riches as if heaven could be bought for money, forgetting that possession which God's Word declares to be indeed great gain-"Godliness, with contentment." Let us seek to know Christ as our refuge now in the accepted time, for the day approaches when we must all stand before Him as our Judge! DECEMBER 29. "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"-MATT. vii. 3. Much need have we to guard against this sin-the spirit of censoriousness. We cannot help seeing faults in others, motes in the eye of a brother. It is not in seeing them that the danger lies, but in that spirit which makes men watch for them and forget their own; they busy themselves with the faults of a brother, while perhaps their own are greatly worse. This evil habit requires to be guarded against; it is no light evil; and the true antidote is to cultivate charity, that "more excellent way," which "thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." Let us seek also the humility of mind which esteemeth others better than ourselves, and that love of purity and heart holiness which will not suffer us to rest till we have cast out every beam out of our own eyes! Then only shall we see clearly, without partiality, envy, or censoriousness, and be enabled in true Christian meekness to cast out the mote out of our brother's eye. DECEMBER 30. "Not as though I had attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may ap prehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."-PHIL. iii. 12. Progress is the word of the day in all human affairs, and is the Christian to be content to stand still? The man of science, of art, or of commerce, is never satisfied unless he is advancing; and shall not the man of faith too seek to advance in grace, as he cannot help advancing in years? Let me ask myself, Have I been thus advancing? Let me look at the apostle, and seek to emu late his spirit of holy and heavenward progress. Like him, may I never look upon what I have attained, but to aim at attaining more. Let me follow after him, as he followed Christ, remembering the help that is so freely promised, even the Holy Spirit, who is given by the Father to all those who ask Him. He is willing to lead us into all truth, to strengthen us with all strength, to work in us all those graces of the Christian character which are the "fruits of the Spirit." May we, then, resolve in His strength to "reach forth unto the things that are before," and to take as our watchword the Christian Excelsior! DECEMBER 31. "What is your life? It is even as a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." JAMES iv. 14. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."-2 Cor. vi. 2. A "vapour," yet a "day of salvation;" two very different aspects of life, but both true. Short and fleeting as it is, for us it is a time of infinite moment. Each has a soul to be saved or lost; each may do something towards saving or ruining the souls of others; and this life, this "vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away," vanisheth not into empty space, but into an awful eternity of happiness or misery! While another year of our brief time on earth is closing, let us pause to consider life in its vanity-life in its momentous importance. The greatest works and thoughts that end with time are but as wreaths of the swiftly vanishing vapour; but those which are for eternity, how. ever apparently humble, have in them the nature of the infinite. O Lord, enable us wisely to discern between trifles and realities! Teach us to make the right use of "the accepted time." Enable us so to live to Thy glory now, that when the "vapour" of this mortal life has vanished away, our souls, redeemed by Thy grace, may enter into Thy glory everlasting! |