on which the train of our thoughts and efforts must run. But the
question is, When I am set free from the constraint of my daily
avocations and pressing duties, and am at liberty to go as I like, where
do I go? When the weight is taken off the sapling in the nursery garden,
which has been hung on it to turn it into a weeping-tree, its elastic
stem springs to the erect position. Where do I spring to when the
weights are taken off? The mother bird will hover over her nest. Where
her treasure is, there is her maternal instinct. The needle follows the
drawing of the pole-star; the sunflower turns to the sun. 'Being let go,
they went to their own company.' Where do _you_ go? The reins laid upon
the horse's neck, it will trot straight home to its stable; 'the ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib,' and our instincts are
not less sure than theirs. You go 'home' when you are left to
yourselves; where do you go?

We call ourselves Christians. If our treasure is in Christ, our hearts
will turn to Him. And what does that mean? 'Hearts,' as I said, mean
thoughts. Now, can you and I say, 'In the multitude of my thoughts
within me, Thy comforts delight my soul'? Does there come stealing into
my mind often and often the blessed contemplation of my wealth in Jesus
Christ? The river of thought brings down, in its continual flow, much
mire and sand. Does it bring any gold? Do I think about Christ, and find
it to be my refreshment to do so? An old mystic said, 'If I can tell how
often I have thought of God to-day, I have not thought of Him often
enough.' 'Where your treasure is, there will your thoughts be also.'

The heart means love. Where do my affections turn when I am set free?
The heart means the will. Is my will all saturated with, and so made
pliant by, the will and commandment of Jesus Christ? If He is my
treasure, then thoughts, affection, obedience will all turn to Him, and
the current of my being, whatever may be the surface-ripple--ay, or the
surface-storm--will be ever sliding surely, though it may be silently,
towards Himself. Ah! brethren, if we would be honest with ourselves and
look into this mirror, we should have cause to be ashamed, some of us,
of our very profession of being Christians, and all of us to feel that
we have far too much heaped up for ourselves other treasures and
forgotten our true wealth, and we should all have to pray, 'Unite my
heart to fear Thy name.' The Assyrians had a superstition