d here and there a little apple that gave
promise of maturing into full-ripened fruit. But, alas! how few apples
there were compared with the number of blossoms with which the boughs had
been laden! Most of the blossoms had been blighted, and had fallen to the
ground leaving nothing behind.

"Ah," thought I, "how like these blighted blossoms are so many of the
desires and hopes and plans of our lives! How many of our aspirations are
never realized! How many of our plans fail! How scanty the perfectly
matured fruit in our lives, when compared with the blossoms!" When we
consider this, how barren our lives often seem! How little we seem to
accomplish! How little our lives seem to amount to!

Every truly saved heart longs to serve. The redeemed heart loves, and love
finds its joy in service. How much there is to be done all around us! and
how eagerly we would take up the task of doing it! How much we want to
accomplish for the Lord! but ah, how little we do really accomplish! How
many blossoms of desire we possess! but how little fruit of real
accomplishment! Seeing this, we sometimes become discouraged. It does not
seem worth while to try to do the few little things that we actually can
do. Do the best we can, so many of our blossoms will be blighted--so many
of our plans will fail; so many of our hopes will not be realized; so many
of our desires will not be fulfilled. We can rejoice in those that are
brought to fruitage; we can rejoice in those that do mature; but how about
the blossoms that fall and seem to leave nothing behind them? Do they bud
in vain? Do they serve no good purpose in our lives? They are not in vain.
The blossoms on that apple-tree which were blighted, and died, were just
as beautiful and just as fragrant as those which bore fruit. They served a
very real purpose, and so do the hopes and purposes that we cherish in our
hearts, even though we never see their fruitage.

David was a man who loved the Lord, and out of that love came a desire to
build the Lord a house. That desire was never realized by David. Making it
a reality was left to others. Nevertheless, David's purpose was pleasing
to the Lord. In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon said:
"And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name
of the Lord God of Israel. And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas
it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that
it was in thine hear