DAILY THOUGHTS ON BIBLE TEXTS. " JANUARY 1. Beginning of Religion. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."-Heb. xi. 6. MUST believe that God is-I must come to him as reconciled in Christ-I must come by seeking him diligently and I am sure of an abundant reward. I must believe that God is.-That God is, his works and his word plainly testify. When walking in the street or on the highway, I find a book which some one has lost. I examine it. Its leaves, its printing, and its binding convince me that it could not be there by chance. It could not exist of itself, but must be the result of design and workmanship. Its different parts give evidence of contrivance, and its marks of design give evidence of intelligence. In like manner, while I gaze on the volume of creation, the blue heavens, the green fields, the towering A 2 BEGINNING OF RELIGION. hills, and the rolling ocean, convince me that they must have had a Creator. My Father made them all. "He is understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." And the word of God harmonizes with his works in its testimony. "There is one God." "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." O my soul! art thou believing in the existence of this Great Being, as thou art believing in thine own? If so, this is the beginning of religion. I must come to him as reconciled in Christ.-O my soul, God has revealed himself as a Father. He has revealed himself as in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. Come as thou art, sinful and miserable, poor and wretched, and thou wilt be welcomed and embraced. Christ is the only Mediator, the only way to God and to heaven, and thou art complete in him. I must come by seeking him diligently.-I must seek him in his word, in his ordinances, at his throne of grace, and I will be sure to find him. I must seek him as the poor publican and dying thief sought him. I must seek him in time—I must seek him earnestly-I must seek him perseveringly, and I will not seek him in vain. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." I am sure of an abundant reward.-He will reward me with present peace, the sweetest enjoyment of created mind. He will give me blessed hope, bearing me on her bright wings above all the trials of earth. He will kindle a flame of love in my heart, that shall burn for ever. He will give me heaven at last, with all its honours and enjoyments, as my everlasting inheritance. What an abundant recompense of reward! What more can the heart desire than perfect knowledge, perfect love, perfect bliss? Thus "godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." A WORD IN SEASON. 3 JANUARY 2. A Word in Season. "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary."-Isa. 1. 4. HERE we have an object of pity-a suitable comforter for him-and the means by which he comforts. The object of pity.-"Him that is weary." While fools make a mock at sin, the convinced sinner feels that his transgressions are a burden, and heavier than the sand by the sea-shore. "Mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me." He feels himself unable to carry his burden. One sin could crush him; how much more innumerable transgressions! Hence, weary with his groaning, his spirit fails, and he is ready to die. He anxiously and earnestly seeks relief. "For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great." Were God to set my sins in his presence, and my secret faults in the light of his countenance, and reckon with me, how should I answer him? O God, I am weary of sin; pardon me, or I die. The suitable Comforter." The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak." This comforter is Jesus, for in the context he says by the prophet, "I hid not my face from shame and spitting." This is the only prediction in the Old Testament which refers to such indignity, and Luke informs us it was fulfilled in Christ (Luke, xviii. 31, 32). Jesus had his qualifications to comfort the weary directly from God. "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." He had in a remarkable manner the tongue of the learned. When twelve years old, he disputed with the Jewish 4 A WORD IN SEASON. doctors; "and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." Often did he confound and silence his adversaries, and when the officers of the chief priests were sent to apprehend him, overawed and confounded, they could not, and returned to those that sent them, declaring, "Never man spake like this man." He knew how to speak to the woman of Samaria, the woman of Canaan, the woman taken in adultery, Mary Magdalene, and many others, so as to raise them from the dust and set their feet upon a rock. The means by which he comforts.-" A word in season. Words of instruction to the ignorant are words in season. Thus he taught his disciples, and Nicodemus, and Paul. Words of pardon and salvation to the perishing are words in season. He forgave the paralytic, he justified Zaccheus, and he saved the expiring thief. Words of comfort to the sorrowing are words in season. How rich his consolations to Martha and Mary when Lazarus died! How full of comfort were his parting words to his sorrowing disciples. "Ye now therefore have sorrow but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." Thus to all the weary he says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” JANUARY 3. Water and Blood. "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood."-1 John, v. 6. HERE are Christ's visit to earth-its two characteristicsand the necessity of both. Christ's visit to earth."This is he that came, even Jesus Christ." He existed before he came: "I was set up |