August 24

So run, that ye may obtain.—1 Corinthians 9:24.

AM I standing still, or pressing forward in the divine life? With the final reward in view, am I running the Christian race with the fixed and earnest purpose to win the incorruptible crown? Do I watch against the temptations and allurements that might beguile me from the way? Do I remember the great cloud of witnesses, and lay aside every weight, and guard against the sins that may beset me, and still run with patience? Above all, do I look continually to Jesus, and rest all my hopes on him?

So live that every failure may be a step to success, and every detection of what is wrong, a step to what is right.

In the kingdom of Christ, where inward character is the prize, no chance can rob earnestness of its due success. Sow for time, and you may succeed for time. But sow the seeds of life—of humbleness, pure-heartedness, and love, and in eternity every minutest grain will come up with an increase of thirty, sixty, or an hundred fold.—F. W. ROBERTSON.

Up, Christian up! thy cares resign;

The past, the future, are not thine.

Show forth to-day the Saviour's praise;

Redeem the curse of evil days;

Life's shadow, in its lengthening gloom,

Falls daily nearer to the tomb.

To Jesus look; in faith press on;

And thine shall be the unfading crown!