December 13

Recruitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

JER. XVII. 9.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. — MATT. XV. 11, 19.

WE are taught by these words that right living is a weightier matter than to wash the hands oft, eat clean meats, and make a fair show in the flesh.

In such practices the Pharisees excelled, but with no better results than self-righteousness and pride. Their experience should convince us that moral progress is not attainable by that road.

According to Jesus, the source of sin is corrupt human nature. Universal consciousness attests the same. The things which defile a man come from within, as when unholy passions master the bodily parts and set them to deeds of shame.

And reformatory forces to be successful must operate within. King David shows how to start, when he prays, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." As we learn to "delight in the law of God after the inward man," the strength to yield our members servants of righteousness unto holiness will be forthcoming. Gracious strength! — which Saint Paul felt the touch of when he exclaimed, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ!"

R. H. Fullerton

I need thee, precious Jesus!

For I am full of sin;

My soul is dark and guilty,

My heart is dead within.

I need the cleansing fountain,

Where I can always flee, —

The blood of Christ most precious,

The sinner's perfect plea.

F. WHITFIELD.