August 12

All these things have I kept, from my youth up. What luck I yet?—Matthew 19:20.

DO I understand, and feel, that mere morality is not enough to save me; but that in penitence for sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only way to heaven? Do I ask that God's Spirit will show me my inmost heart, and lead me to turn from every- thing that stands between my soul and the Saviour? Am I willing to renounce self-righteousness, and self- dependence, and to give up all that would keep me back from the cross, and from treading, with faithful zeal the narrow way that leads to heaven?

The great mistake of my life, said Gerrit Smith to his pastor, has been, that I have tried to be moral without faith in Christ. But I have now learned that true morality can only keep pace with trust in Christ as my Saviour. And Bishop Wilson well says, that though morality does not make a Christian, no one can be a Christian without morality. *

No more, my God, I beast no more,

Of all the duties I have done;

I quit the hopes I held before,

And trust the merits of thy Son.

The best obedience of my hands,

Dares not appear before thy throne;

But faith can answer thy demands,

By pleading what my Lord hath done.

—WATTS.