a shopkeeper on the
Sabbath day put up one shutter, out of presumed respect for the Holy Lord,
and behind the shutter continue all the business of the world! That one
shutter is typical of all the religion that is left when a man "loves the
world" and delights in its prizes and crowns. His religion is a bit of
idle ritual which is an offence unto God!

So I must make my choice. Shall I travel north or south? Which of the two
opposites shall I love--God or the world? Whichever love I choose will
drive out and quench the other. And thus if I choose the love of God it
will destroy every worldly passion, and the river of my affections and
desires will be like "the river of water of life, clear as crystal."

JANUARY The Thirteenth

_THE MIRACLE IN A DRY PLACE_

PSALM cvii. 33-43.

"He turneth ... the dry ground into water-springs." This is one of the
miracles of grace. The good Lord makes a dry experience the fountain of
blessing. I pass into an apparently waste place and I find riches of
consolation. Even in "the valley of the shadow" I come upon "green
pastures" and "still waters." I find flowers in the ruts of the hardest
roads if I am in "the way of God's commandments." God's providence is the
pioneer of every faithful pilgrim. "His blessed feet have gone before."
What I shall need is already foreseen, and foresight with the Lord means
forethought and provision. Every hour gives the loyal disciples surprises
of grace.

Let me therefore not fear when the path of duty turns into the wilderness.
The wilderness is as habitable with God as the crowded city, and in His
fellowship my bread and water are sure. The Lord has strange manna for the
children of disappointment, and He makes water to "gush forth from the
rock." Duty can lead me nowhere without Him, and His provision is abundant
both in "the thirsty desert and the dewy mead." There will be a spring at
the foot of every hill, and I shall find "lilies of peace" in the lonely
valley of humiliation.

JANUARY The Fourteenth

_FORGETTING GOD_

DEUTERONOMY viii. 11-20.

"Beware ... lest when thou hast eaten and art full ... thine heart be
lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God." I was in a little cottage
near Warwick. I said to the good man who lived in it, "Can you see the
castle?" and he replied, "We can see it best in the winter when the leaves
are off the trees. In the summer time it is apt to be hid!" The summer
bounty hid the castle; the