other's love, but I desire in some special
way to pay tribute to the devotion and consistency of a father.

There are special requisites which must be made without which no father
can maintain his God-given position. He must be a Christian. I rode
along a country road with my little boy some time ago. I found that he
was speaking to my friends just as I spoke to them. One man called my
attention to it and said, "It is amusing, isn't it?" To me it was
anything but amusing. If my boy is to speak as I speak, walk as I
walk, then God help me to walk as a Christian.

He must be a man of prayer. No man can bear the burdens of life or
meet its responsibilities properly if he is a stranger to prayer.

He must be a man of Bible study. One of the most priceless treasures I
have is a Bible my father studied, the pages of which he turned over
and over, and which I never used to read without a great heart throb.

"I con its pages o'er and o'er;
Its interlinings mark a score
Of promises most potent, sweet,
In verses many of each sheet;
Albeit the gilding dull of age,
And yellow-hued its every page,
No book more precious e'er may be
Than father's Bible is to me.

"Its tear-stained trace fresh stirs my heart
The corresponding tear to start;
Of trials, troubles herein brought,
For comfort never vainly sought,
For help in sorest hour of need,
For love to crown the daily deed,
No book more precious e'er may be
Than father's Bible is to me."

He must also erect in his house a family altar. I know that many
business men will say this is impossible, but it is not impossible. If
your business prevents your praying with your children, then there must
be something wrong with your business. If your life prevents it, then
you ought to see to it that your life is made right and that quickly.

My friend, George R. Stuart, one of the truest men I know, gave me the
following picture of a Christian home. He said: "When I was preaching
in Nashville, at the conclusion of my sermon a Methodist preacher came
up and laid his hand upon my shoulder and said, 'Brother Stuart, how
your sermon to-day carried me back to my home! My father was a local
preacher, and the best man I ever saw. He is gone to heaven now. We
have a large family; mother is still at home, and I should like to see
all the children together once more and have you come and dedicate our
home to God, while we all rededicate ourselve