go without it, because, after all, I can't very well
afford it;' or, 'because I really ought to subscribe to so and so;' or,
'because I daresay I shall be glad I have not spent the money:' but, 'I
will do without it, because I _do_ want to do a little more for Him who
so loves me--just that much more than I could do if I did this other
thing.' I fancy this is more often the heart language of those who _have_
to cut and contrive, than of those who are able to give liberally without
any cutting and contriving at all. The very abundance of God's good gifts
too often hinders from the privilege and delight of really doing without
something superfluous or comfortable or usual, that they may give just
that much more to their Lord. What a pity!

The following quotation may (I hope it will), touch some conscience:--'A
gentleman once told us that his wine bill was L100 a year--more than
enough to keep a Scripture reader always at work in some populous
district. And it is one of the countless advantages of total abstinence
that it at once sets free a certain amount of money for such work.
Smoking, too, is a habit not only injurious to the health in a vast
majority of cases, and, to our mind, very unbecoming in a "temple of the
Holy Ghost," but also one which squanders money which might be used for
the Lord. Expenses in dress might in most people be curtailed; expensive
tastes should be denied; and simplicity in all habits of life should be a
mark of the followers of Him who had not where to lay His head.'

And again: 'The self-indulgence of wealthy Christians, who might largely
support the Lord's work with what they lavish upon their houses, their
tables, or their personal expenditure, is very sad to see.'[footnote:
_Christian Progress_, vol. iii. pp. 25, 26.]

Here the question of jewellery seems to come in. Perhaps it was an
instance of the gradual showing of the details of consecration,
illustrated on page 21, but I will confess that when I wrote 'Take my
silver and my gold,' it never dawned on me that anything was included
beyond the coin of the realm! But the Lord 'leads on softly,' and a good
many of us have been shown some capital bits of unenclosed but easily
enclosable ground, which have yielded 'pleasant fruit.' Yes, _very_
pleasant fruit! It is wonderfully nice to light upon something that we
really never thought of as a possible gift to our Lord, and just to give
it, straight away, to Him. I do not press the matter, b