as you need Him." I said: "Suppose that
gas-jet should say, 'If I take this fire in, the gas will lose its
individuality.' Oh, no; it is only when the fire comes in that the gas
fulfils its very purpose of being. Suppose the snowflake should say, 'What
shall I do? If I drop on the ground I shall lose my individuality.' But it
falls and is absorbed by the soil, and the snowflakes are seen by-and-by
in the primroses and daisies. Let us lose ourselves and rise to a new life
in Christ."

FEBRUARY 11.

"Strengthened with all might unto all patience" (Col. i. 11).

The apostle prays for the Colossians, that they may be "strengthened with
all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and
long-suffering with joyfulness." It is one thing to endure and show the
strain on every muscle of your face, and seem to say with every wrinkle,
"Why does not somebody sympathize with me?" It is another to endure the
cross, "despising the shame" for the joy set before us.

There are some trees in the garden of the Lord which "shall not see when
heat cometh"; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, nor cease
from yielding fruit. Let us set our faces toward the sunrising and use the
clouds that come, to make rainbows. Not much longer shall we have the
glorious opportunity to rejoice in tribulation, and learn patience. In
heaven we shall have nothing to teach long-suffering. If we do not learn
it here, we shall be without our brightest crown forever, and wish
ourselves back for a little while, in the very circumstances of which we
are now trying so hard to get rid.

FEBRUARY 12.

"But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. vi. 33).

For every heart that is seeking anything from the Lord this is a good
watchword. That very thing, or the desire for it, may unconsciously
separate you from the Lord, or at least from the singleness of your
purpose unto Him. The thing we desire may be a right thing, but we may
desire it in a distrusting and selfish spirit. Let us commit it to Him,
and not cease to believe for it, but let us, at the same time, keep our
purpose fixed on His will and glory, and claim even His promised
blessings, not for themselves or ourselves, but for Him. Then shall it be
true, "Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of
thine heart." All other things but Himself God will "_add_." But they m