December 11

We shall save the humble. — JOB xxii. 29.

Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. — MATT. xviii. 3. 4.

TO be converted is to be turned about, implying a real renewal of the heart and a radical reformation of the life. It is to "be born again," "born of the Spirit," "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." No man is fully alive till he is converted. Our loftiest faculties are tuneless till divine inspiration breathes through them. The new life is the supreme need of human nature. The soul is dead till it receives the light, life, and love of God.

The new birth gives the childlike spirit. We "become as little children;" fear gives way to filial assurance, wilfulness to loving obedience, servitude and formalism to spiritual freedom; grief yields to gladness, and pride is cast out by humility. Heavenly crowns cannot be won by great talents; they cannot be bought by great wealth; and great pretensions and great performances are equally powerless to obtain them. They are freely bestowed upon those who have the childlike spirit. God's kingdom is God's family; all of his children, his "little children," are royal. Those who feel that they are nothing without God are the greatest in the kingdom of God.

J. S. C. Sawyer

I would not have the restless will That hurries to and fro, Seeking for some great thing to do, Or secret thing to know; I would be treated as a child, And guided where I go.

ANNA L. WARING.