goes much with a certain boy. Then he must lay that weight aside.
Another takes a story-book up to bed, and reads it while nurse is brushing
her hair, and up to the last minute, and then her head is so full of the
story that she only _says words_ when she kneels down, and can not really
_pray_ at all. Can she doubt that this is a weight which must be laid
aside?

It may seem hard to lay our pet weight down; but oh, if you only knew how
light we feel when it is laid down, and how much easier it is to run the
race which God has set before us!

30. Thirtieth Day.

The Shield of Salvation.

"Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation."--2 Sam. xxii.
36.

This beautiful little text teaches us a very precious truth. It shows us
that the salvation which the Lord Jesus came to bring is not only
salvation at last, just escaping hell, but that it is salvation now, and
salvation in everything Salvation does not only mean victory at last, but
it is like a broad, shining shield, given to us in the midst of the
battle, coming between us and the poisoned arrows and sharp sword-thrusts
of the enemy. It is a shield not only to keep us from death, but to keep
us from being hurt and wounded. It is the shield which the Captain _has_
given us to use now, as well as the crown which He _will_ give when the
warfare is ended.

How are you to use this shield? what does it really mean for you? It
means, that if you have come to the Lord Jesus to be saved, He does not
merely say He _will_ save you, but that you _are_ saved, that He saves you
now. And this is how you are to use it--believe it, and be sure of it,
because you have His word for it; and then, when a temptation comes, tell
the enemy that he has nothing to do with you, for you are saved; that you
belong to Jesus, and not to him,--look up and say, "Jesus saves me!" Will
He fail you? Did He ever let any find themselves deceived and mistaken who
looked up in faith and confidence to Him, trusting in His great salvation?
Never! and never will you find this shield of His salvation fail to cover
you completely. Satan himself can not touch you when you are behind this
shield! Lift it up when you see him coming, even ever so far off, and you
will be safe.

"Jesus saves me every day,
Jesus saves me every night;
Jesus saves me all the way,
Through the darkness, through the light."

31. Thirty-first Day.

I will love Thee

"I wil