June 4

"They drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." —Amos 6:6.

THERE is an aristocracy to which it is no honour to belong. That which toils not, neither does it spin. That from which little good ever proceeds. That which is a root of much of the evil in the nation. I do not covet a place in the ranks of its members.

But there is the true aristocracy, in which I would fain be numbered—right reverend men, and gracious queenly women.

I would have an ideal of social life above the level of those who satisfy their souls with the fat of lambs and the calves out of the stall, with bowls of wine and the chief ointments. I would pray to be delivered from the inanities and vulgarities of the world, from the follies of fashion, from the pride of riches.

I would desire a share even of the sorrows of those who are grieved for the affliction of Joseph. I would carry Christ's cross, and be crowned with the sharp thorns of His love and shame. I would be a partaker in the afflictions of His people. For all other pleasures are not worth these pains.

It comes to this: I would be risen with my Lord, and would seek only and always the things which are above. "Grace and glory," John Bunyan says, "is the bait of the gospel; milk and honey was the bait that drew six hundred thousand out of Egypt." Earth's joys grow dim. Earth's glittering prizes are transient and unreal. Only he who does the will of God abideth for ever. My Father, make me perfect as Thou art perfect, and write my unworthy name in the bead-roll of Thy nobles.