, '_It is not for you_ to know the times or the seasons, which
the Father hath put in His own power.' Cease to meddle with matters
which are concealed, and be satisfied to know the things which are
clearly revealed."

Stolen Goods a Burden

I heard of a boy who stole a cannon-ball from a navy-yard. He watched
his opportunity, sneaked into the yard, and secured it. But when he
had it, he hardly knew what to do with it. It was heavy, and too
large to conceal in his pocket, so he had to put it under his hat.
When he got home with it, he dared not show it to his parents, because
it would have led at once to his detection.

He said in after years it was the last thing he ever stole.

The story is told that a royal diamond valued at $600,000 was stolen
from a window of a jeweler, to whom it had been given to set. A few
months afterward a miserable man died a miserable death in a poor
lodging-house. In his pocket was found the diamond, and a letter
telling how he had not dared to sell it, lest it should lead to his
discovery and imprisonment. It never brought him anything but anxiety
and pain.

Unlocked By Prayer

God's best gifts, like valuable jewels, are kept under lock and key,
and those who want them must, with fervent faith, importunately ask
for them; for God is the rewarder of them that _diligently_ seek Him.

The Faithful Promiser

God is always true to what He promises to do. He made promises to
Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and the others, and did He not fulfill
them? He will fulfill every word of what He has promised; yet how few
take Him at His word!

When I was a young man I was clerk in the establishment of a man in
Chicago, whom I observed frequently occupied sorting and marking
bills. He explained to me what he had been doing; on some notes he had
marked B, on some D, and on others G; those marked B, he told me, were
bad, those marked D meant they were doubtful, and those with G on
them mean they were _good_; and, said he, you must treat all of them
accordingly. And thus people indorse God's promises, by marking some
as bad and others as doubtful; whereas we ought to take all of them as
_good_, for He has never once broken His word, and all that He says He
will do, will be done in the fullness of time.

Throw Out the Ballast

When men go up in a balloon, they carry with them what they call
ballast--that is, small bags of sand, and when they want to rise
higher they just throw out some o