December 9

Whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and sister and mother.—Mark 3:35.

IS it not a blessed thought that the faith of the believer rests not merely on a truth, but on a person; and that the nearest and dearest of earthly relationships are less near and dear than those that bind the Christian to a personal Saviour, who has borne our nature, and knows our weakness, and can sympathize with, as well as aid us, in all circumstances of life? Am I one with this Saviour by a living faith? For time and eternity do I lean on him as a Friend, as well as trust him as a Redeemer?

The history of all God's dealings with man is the record of an approach nearer and nearer still, until in the incarnate Son he shares our sorrows and carries our sins, and faith puts its finger into the print of the nails, and its hand into the wounded side, and cries out "My Lord, and my God!" We need this. We can believe a truth, but can trust only a person; can admire a truth, but can love only a person; can meditate on a truth, but can commune only with a person; and faith, stretching out a wistful hand to touch his garment, comes at last to embrace himself.—J. KER.

Saviour, Teacher, Guardian, Friend, Every step I walk with thee; Through the toils of earthly strife, To an endless victory! Unto death and over death, Not one object of thy care, But shall prove thy love on earth; Then, with thee, thy glory share!