AUG. 16. "Follow me." MAT. ix. 9. HIS is the language of the most glorious Lead er the world ever had. If you follow him you must leave all for his sake. up your cross. You must forsake all your sins. If you follow him, you must prepare for conflict. He is the Captain of salvation, and he leads to the high places of the field. You must meet the enemy with a strong and courageous heart. Use the weapons grace has provided; use them in the spirit of your leader, and you will overcome. If you follow him, you must expect to meet trials and afflictions. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was made perfect through suffering. He will conduct us through much tribulation. Do not be disheartened or despairing in the evil day. Your path may be thickly crossed with sorrows; yet it is the path to the throne. The voice of Jesus falls on your ear in the darkness, "Follow me." If you follow him, you must be ready for toil. He came to work the works of his Father. It was his meat and his drink to do his will. And he calls his followers to the same service. They are to work for the salvation of souls and the Divine glory. Their field is the world. Their rule is the Gospel. Their support is the grace of God. Their reward is heaven. Work, therefore, while it is called to day; the night cometh when no man can work. If you follow him, he will conduct you to glory. He has entered into heaven. He sits on his glorious throne. Where he is, there you shall be also. All his followers are to share his reward and reLet this prospect cheer you. In your nown. atrivings with sin-your conflicts with the enemy -your endurance of affliction-your engagements in Christian duty-in all these let the voice of your Leader, as he speaks from his throne, sustain and invigorate you, "Follow me." Walk on in faith till you attain There you shall wear immortal crowns, AUG. 17. "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." PHIL. iv. 11. "OD," says Matthew Henry, "sets bounds to our lot; let us, then, set bounds to our desires and bring our mind to our condition. A small estate honestly come by, which a man is content with, enjoys comfortably, serves God with cheerfully, and puts to a right use, is much better and more valuable than a great estate ill got and then ill kept or ill spent. It carries with it more inward satisfaction, a better reputation with all that are wise and good, it will last longer, and will turn to a better account in the great day, when men will be judged, not according to what they had, but what they did. It is better to live poorly upon the fruits of God's goodness, than live plentifully upon the products of our own sin. It much more deserves and demands our care, what estate we shall go to in the other world when we die, than what estate we shall then leave be⚫ hind in this world." Happy are they, who pos sess and cherish a contented spirit; who receive the mercies of God with a grateful heart; who endeavour in all conditions of life to glorify God; who use the world, as not abusing it, knowing that the fashion of it passeth away; and who are looking for their full happiness in heaven! Contentment makes their little more, God is their joy and portion still, And shall their hearts sustain and fill, AUG. 18. "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" JER. ix. 1. AVID HUME, the unbeliever, once remarked that all the devout persons he had ever met with were melancholy. Bishop Horne observed in reply, that this might very probably be the case; for in the first place, it was most likely that he saw very few, his friends and acquaintances being of a very different character; and, secondly, the sight of him would make a devout man look melancholy at any time. Good men have in every age looked with sorrow and sadness on the unbelief and wickedness of mankind. Righteous Lot was vexed in Sodom. Rivers of waters ran down the eyes of the Psalmist, because men kept not God's law. Jeremiah desired to weep unceasingly for the iniquity of his nation. The tears of Paul fell fast, as he contemplated the conduct and ruin of those who were enemies to the cross of Christ. And even Jesus himself wept, as he gazed from Olivet on the doomed city of Jerusa lem, shortly to perish in its guilt. No wonder that devout men are melancholy and sorrowful, when they think of a world's pollution, misery, and woe. Hard must be the heart that cannot feel when such themes as these are brought before it. Make me, O God, increasingly sorrowful after this sort. Let the condition of my fellow-men be more than ever the subject of my intercessions at thy throne. And grant me grace daily to labour for their conversion to thyself, and their restoration to happiness! Arise, my tenderest thoughts, arise, AUG. 19. "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not ; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" PROV. xxiv. 11, 12. OME time ago, a lady who had been remark able for her thoughtlessness and disregard of religion, requested a professedly pious lady to accompany her that day to visit another lady, who was also a member of a Christian church. The visit was paid. The afternoon passed away. Various matters were the subjects of conversation; but the all-important subject of religion was not introduced at all. Both professors were probably afraid it would be wearisome and offensive to their worldly companion. In the evening, as the ladies returned home, the one who had proposed the visit remarked that she had lost the afternoon, as nothing would have induced her to leave her home that day but the expectation of hearing something about religion; and, she added, "I can come to no other conclusion, than that there is nothing in religion, or that my acquaintances do not possess it, for if they did they would speak to me about my soul." She said, that for several days she had been greatly alarmed about her character and condition; but had concluded that afternoon, that if religion was not worth talking about, it was not worth thinking of. "Never," said the professor, who afterwards mentioned the circumstance to a friend, "never shall I forget that look of despair and reproach. I felt that I had murdered a soul by my neglect." Great God make me more faithful with the souls of men, that I may not be guilty of their blood! With an affectionate and everactive fidelity, help me to unite earnest and believing prayer for their salvation! Saved myself by Jesus' blood, I would now draw nigh to God: pray- AUG. 20. "And Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom." "GEN. xiii. 12. T is a sad thing when professors of religion tempted by possesssions and pleasures, and the smiles of the world, pitch their tent toward Sodom. Yet, how often is it done. How often do men, in the choice of a residence, in the pursuit of trade, in the habits and customs of domestic life, in the settlement of their children, in the investment of their property, and in various 254 |