"just;" all that is "pure;" all that is "lovely," that is, amiable; all that is "of good report;" in short, every "virtue," and everything worthy of "praise,"-"think on these things." Shut out carefully and resolutely all that is contrary to them. Think upon them constantly: thought will lead to action; and so thou shalt be blessed in thy deed.

DECEMBER XVII.

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth; while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."-ECCLES. xii. 1.

THEY who thus remember God early, shall not be forgotton of Him in their old age. This is not only the duty of youth, but its privilege; and the only way to render life happy. How great and fatal the mistake of those, who would banish all thought of God from their minds in their early days, imagining it time enough to remember Him, when old age overtakes them. What security is there, that that season will ever come? Is it not said that "all the nations that forget God" "shall be turned into hell"? Wilt thou not then remember Him "now"? Shall not the best faculties of the mind, and the powers of the body in their freshest prime, be given to Him who created them? The remembrance of thy Creator will cheer thee in sorrow, sustain thee in perplexity, deliver thee from temptation. But if God be forgotten now, what better is to be expected, than that thy latter days shall indeed be "evil;" not only through the evils and infirmities they bring with them, but from bitter recollections of days spent without God, in carelessness and sin, in early life. Remember. Him now; and even then "thou shalt have pleasure;" such pleasure as His saints alone can know, whose earthly service prepares them for heavenly joys.

DECEMBER XVIII.

"It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”LAM. iii. 27.

WERE We to go to man himself in his youth, and enquire what he

considered good for himself, the answer would, in almost every instance, be just the reverse of this. Liberty to do as he pleases, unrestrained license, a will unfettered by man or God, these are the things youth is apt to imagine "good." God says otherwise; and they who have been taught in His school, are made to confess also, "It is good for a man; that he bear the yoke in his youth." The yoke of parental discipline, the yoke of God's chastenings, the yoke of the Saviour's law, all are "good for a man." The yoke borne in youth, is felt scarcely as a yoke at all in after life. The neck that is early submitted to the Saviour's yoke, finds it "easy," and the "burden light." But the heart that refuses thus to bow in youth, if brought to do so at last, struggles "as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke;" and has to endure many a painful chastening, and learn many a hard lesson, before it is able to say, "it is good." Do we know what it is to bear the yoke in our youth? Are we fretting under it; or are we looking at the good our souls may derive from it? It may be painful; and the exact "needs-be" for it not clearly seen. But trusting to the love and wisdom of our heavenly Father, we know even now that it is "good," and soon we shall see that it is so.

DECEMBER XIX.

"Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully.-2 TIM. ii. 3, 4, 5.

THIS is a page from the book of standing Orders, given to every soldier, enlisted in the ranks of the great Captain of our salvation. We profess to be such. How then are we regarding our orders? Are we "good soldiers"? Are we ready to "endure hardness"? Encamped in the Enemy's country, there is danger of our becoming at home in it, instead of living as those who are in the field. A good soldier can never live on terms of intimacy and friendship with his country's sworn foes, however disguised. He will also beware of entangling himself with such affairs of this life, as

would enervate, and unfit him for active warfare. Shall the Christian soldier be less watchful, and allow thread after thread of the Enchanter's net to be woven about him, till he cannot extricate himself? Let him think of the endurance of His Captain, throughout His sojourn in the land, and so be guarded against all self-indulgent security. Is it our aim to please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers, or to please ourselves? One more important caution. Many strive, yet never win the crown; for " a man is not crowned, except he strive lawfully." Are we daily acquainting ourselves with the rules of our army, or vainly imagining them of small consequence, if a man be but sincere? The rules are plain, wise, and of absoluie authority: are we then studying them day by day?

DECEMBER XX.

"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away."-1 COR. ix. 24-27. LIFE is a race, no less than a warfare; and from the zeal of earthly combatants, the Christian learns many an important lesson. Not all that run receive the prize. Some faint; others stumble: many run not according to the prescribed regulations. Do we so run, that we may obtain"? The Olympic wrestlers too furnish a striking lesson. Careful training, patient endurance, self-denying temperance, toilsome exercise, fitted them for the contest. And for what? "A corruptible crown"-a chaplet that must quickly perish. Shall we be less earnest, when there awaits us an incorruptible crown, a crown of glory, and of righteousness, which the righteous Judge Himself shall bestow?

What an example of Christian faithfulness and constancy does the Apostle give us! Can we appropriate his words? Is there no wavering, looking back, or turning aside, with us? Are we pressing steadily forward. Is our's an unflinching conflict, not a mere "beating the air"? Are we "keeping under the body"? Great indeed, and constant is our need of divine grace, if so we would run, and fight, and obtain, when many, alas, prove castaways.

DECEMBER XXI.

"And now, little children, abide in Him; that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."-1 JOHN ii. 28.

"If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."-JOHN Xxv. 6, 7.

THE lesson for to-day is abiding in Christ, as taught by Himself, and by the disciple whom He loved. Let us hide it in our hearts, and notice the present and future blessedness of so doing, with the fearful end of those who "abide not in Him." It has a present blessing. What confidence will it give in prayer: "ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you;" for the will of the suppliant will be found in unison with that of his Sovereign. May not the frequent coldness and half-heartedness of our prayers be traced to distance from Jesus? There is a future blessing also. This is in a state of preparedness and holy confidence, at His coming in glory. Those only who abide in Him now, can with joy welcome Him when He shall appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation. Separation from Jesus, a living without Him in the world, involves present deadness, unfruitfulness, and withering, and final condemnation. Are we thus abiding in Jesus, pleading His promises in prayer, and looking. forward with joy to His coming again?

DECEMBER XXII.

"Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold I come quickly hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. -REV. iii. 10, 11.

TRULY"in keeping of God's commandments, there is great reward." Those who, whilst others cast aside or neglect His word, cling to it as their guide, support, and treasury, shall be kept by His power, in every, and from many an hour of temptation, which shall come upon the world." Whilst others are tossed to and fro, their hearts failing them for fear, the Christian has his word of comfort for meeting every care, and "in patience" is enabled to " possess his soul. How safe must they be, whom God undertakes to keep! The day of Christ's appearance will be a day of trial to all who dwell upon the earth. Does the announcement "Behold I come quickly," alarm or cheer us? Here is our security pointed out; "Hold that fast which thou hast." Here is an anchor that will not drift, a chain that will not break, a support that will not fail. Hold fast also whatever thou hast attained of christian graces, christian hopes, christian principles. Beware of giving up one single point, "that no man take thy crown." Faint not so near the end of the course; but keep fast hold of Jesus, and be safe for ever.

DECEMBER XXIII.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”— PHIL. i. 9, 10, 11.

SPIRITUAL blessings form the main theme of the Christian's intercessory requests. These he has learned to value and desire for himself and others, far beyond the richest abundance of