January 20

25 "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on

his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him: and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him, Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

38 "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

40 But Martha was cumbered about much saving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dust thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Did her therefore that she help me.

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.

42 But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Our Lord, in this parable, teaches us, that all are our neighbors. The wounded man was a Jew, and the man who helped him was a Samaritan; in this lies the special lesson.

As disciples of Christ, we are to be kind not only to those near, but to those far off; not only to kinsmen and friends, but to strangers; not to those only who love us, or will be grateful to us, but even to enemies.

"There are some who are naturally winning and attractive; it is easy to show kindness to them; but we must be kind also to those who are not so. Some, we know, will receive our kindness gratefully and repay it with love; it is a pleasure to show kindness to such; but we must not confine our help to them. Some again are opposed to us in opinions and habits, yet let us help them in their need. And some may have injured us, yet we must seek to do them good. In all these instances the example of the Samaritan applies, 'Go, and do thou likewise.'—F. Bourdillon.

We must not overlook the visit of Jesus to the house of Mary and Martha mentioned in the closing verses of to-day's reading. "Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things."

"More than half that we suffer through fear of troubles is that which we are made to suffer by magnifying them. . . . We take our troubles, and turn them over, and look at them; we imagine what form they will assume; we make an inventory of them; we muster them, and call the roll, and put them in order, and march them first this way and then that; we annoy ourselves with them as much as possible. Men are infernally ingenious in tormenting themselves with troubles which ninety nine times in a hundred have no existence except in their imagination."—H. W. Beecher.

Closet Promise.—And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.—Matt. xxv. 40.

Life's morning lies behind; its noon is past; Its evening comes apace; and we at last, Weary and footnote, by the way sit down. An - think, in sorrow, of our lost renown. Sadly we grieve that in our life hath been No grand and noble deeds - but all unseen Our lowly toil. Then some sweet voice chants low. Wait till God's angel shall the record show.

The patient toil; the suffering meekly borne; The wind word spoken to the sinking heart, The cup of water in His name, to one Fainting and desolate; the cruel smart We seek in other suffering hearts to ease By earnest deeds of love; oh, faint heart—these, These are the deeds He counts as labor done, And binds into the sheaf our toil hath won. —Rebecca Rader Springer.