life, that those we live with shall know the whole story of
Jesus' love and life; His love burned out for us till there were no
ashes, and His life poured out for us till not a red drop was left
unspilled.

Are _you_ writing _your_ gospel? Is your life spelling out this simple
wondrous God-story? I can find out, though, of course, I shall not. What
I mean is this,--_the crowd knows._ The folks that touch you every day,
they know. This old Bible was never printed so much as to-day, nor
issued more numerously. And--thoughtfully--it was never read _less_ by
the common crowd on the common street of life than to-day.

That doesn't mean that the crowd doesn't read what it supposes to be
religious literature. It does. I wish we church folk read our religious
literature as faithfully as this crowd I speak of reads its. It is
reading _the gospel according to you,_ and reading it daily, and
closely, and faithfully, and remembering what it reads, and being shaped
by it.

This Bible I have here is bound in--I think it is called sealskin. I
tried to get the best wearing binding I could. But I've discovered that
there's a better binding than this. The best binding for the Gospel is
shoe-leather. The old Gospel of the Son of God is at its best as it is
being tramped out on the common street of life. Its truths stand out
clearest as they're walked out. Its love comes warmest, its power is
most resistless as it comes to you in the common give-and-take of daily
touch in home and shop and street. Are you writing your copy of the
Gospel?

You know that sometimes scholars have found some precious manuscripts in
old monasteries. They have gone into some old, grey, stone monkery in
the Near East, and they have run across old manuscripts hidden away in
some dark cell, covered with dust and with rubbish, perhaps. With much
tact and diplomacy they have at length managed to get possession of the
coveted manuscript. And they have been fairly delighted to find that
they have gotten hold of a remnant, a very precious remnant, of one of
these Gospels. In just this way much invaluable light has been gotten
that made possible these precious revised versions.

I wonder if _your_ gospel--the one you're writing with your life--is
_just a remnant,_ a ragged remnant. And perhaps there's a good bit of
dusting necessary, and removing of rubbish, to get even at what there is
there. And some of the shy hungry hearts that touch you and me need to
use quit