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deemed. The race that fell in Adam shall be restored in him. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." Lifted up upon the cross of Calvary, lifted up upon the throne of his glory, lifted up in the witness of his disciples by whom he is openly set forth crucified, he is gathering the world unto himself.

It is the burden of his prayer that God may be glorified, glorified in the service and sacrifice of his Son, in the sanctification of believers, in the salvation of the world. For his disciples, for us, he prays that we may be kept from sin, sanctified for service, united in love, glorified with him.

In these last words Jesus bestows two parting gifts. He committed his disciples to the Father, he committed the world to his disciples. They stand between God and the world, receiving his grace that they may make it known to men. He committed us to the Father; there lies our safety. He committed the world to us; there lies our service. To keep ourselves in the love of God, and to fulfil our ministry to the world, is to be in harmony with our Lord's desire and prayer for us, and to do his will, which is the law of our life.

XVII

CONTENTMENT

"Be content with such things as ye have."

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Heb. 13:5

Men are by nature prone to extremes. Some are boastful. What they have is always the best. They hold themselves in high esteem and their own excellence is reflected upon their surroundings. Others are fretful. Their lot in life is the hardest, their sorrows the sorest, their sufferings the keenest. Between these extremes of boastfulness and fretfulness lies the golden mean, contentment. 'Be content with such things as ye have." If you believe that your circumstances are ordered by God's providence there is no room for boasting. It is excluded. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" You will not take to yourself the credit of your prosperity, but give thanks to God. There is no place for fretfulness or complaining. If I believe that the events of life befall by chance or fate, that they are directed by no intelligent purpose and serve no worthy end, I shall rebel against all that is hard and bitter. But if I believe that troubles, too, are from the hand of God, the same hand that bestows upon me blessings without number, and that he is infinite in wisdom as in love, that his love never fails and his wisdom is never at fault, I can endure the se

verest trials without a murmur because I am persuaded that they serve his purpose.

What is this contentment that the Scripture enjoins? We are confronted at once by the distinction between the circumstances and the self. We are commanded to be content with our circumstances, but not with ourselves, with what we have but not with what we are. "Be content with such things as ye have." We reverse the rule. Our discontent. fastens upon our condition. If you ask a man, "Are you satisfied," he will tell you, "No. There is much that I should like to have-more business, more money, more of the luxuries of life." Instinctively his mind turns to his outward state. How many men will say: "No, I am not content. I want to be a better man. I want more knowledge, more faith, more righteousness, more love"? If the energy we devote to bettering our condition were applied to bettering our character what progress we should make. Buddhism bids men seek the goal of life through self-suppression; Christianity, through self-development. Make the most of yourself. Never rest until you have climbed the heights where God sits enthroned, and taken your place beside him as a son. You are made in the image of the Almighty, be content with nothing less than this, that you be filled unto all the fulness of God.

Christianity does not forbid aspiration, ambition, the endeavor to improve our circumstances and better our condition. It does not bid men remain poor because they were born poor, if they have a chance

to rise; nor remain in a low place if a higher place is open to them. It enjoins the economic virtues, industry, thrift, diligence, self control, the qualities that command success in every walk of life. It forbids those vices that hurry men to ruin. "Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come." If this is God's world success can be won only by obedience to God's law. You cannot rise by trampling the Commandments under foot.

Contentment not only does not block the way of ambition, but it is its most potent ally. The way to prosper is to do the work of to-day with a tranquil heart. Do you do your best when you are anxious and worried? What is it that wears men out, cuts them off before their prime, hurries them to premature graves? Is it work? Or is it worry? Work is of God, enjoined upon Adam in paradise. Worry is of the Devil. Man never worried until he sinned. Work brings sound sleep and hearty appetite; worry brings wakeful nights, shattered nerves, impaired digestion. Work strengthens mind and body; worry, like a consuming fever, burns the life out. The laws of nature cry out with the word of God, Don't worry. Don't lie awake at night bemoaning the mistakes of to-day. You cannot do to-day's work over again, you cannot do to-morrow's work until tomorrow comes. And the best preparation for the labors of the morrow is sleep. When the day's labor is over let it go. If you have made poor work of it, thank God you are done with it; ask him to forgive

you and go to sleep, that you may do better to-morrow. Do not shoulder the burdens of to-morrow until you must. God sets the nights between the days that we may roll off our cares in sleep. Then we awake strong, refreshed, vigorous in mind and body, ready for whatever the day may bring. Do you drag the day into the night, burdening your soul with regret for the past and anxiety for the future? Every day has its share of mistakes and sins. Bring them all to God as the night draws on and say to him, My Father, the day is marred with follies and faults. I pray thee forgive me, and help me do better to-morrow. And he will say, I forgive you, my child. Now go to sleep. There are many of us to whom obedience to this command would mean added years of life and vast increase of power. There is no place for fretfulness or worry in the well-ordered life. If you can do better, do it. If not, why complain about it? Be content with to-day, not as an end but as a stepping-stone, a stage in life's journey. Be like the traveler who enjoys the scenery while he is speeding toward his home. Let each day have its own measure of contentment and thanksgiving, each night its quiet, peaceful rest. Make your sleep as well as your labor a part of your religion. It is as needful to sleep well as to work well. Bodily conditions that we cannot control may deny us restful slumber, and for that we are not to blame. We recognize the hand of God in our affliction, and bear it as patiently as we can. But we have no right to murder sleep by our faithless fears, our anxieties, our brooding cares.

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