March 6

A word spoken in due season, how good is it.— Proverbs 15:23.

DO I realize the importance of right words at the right times? And is it my study and prayer that I may be enabled at all times to speak for good and not for evil? Do I watch for opportunities for speaking words of kindness, of sympathy, of en- couragement, of instruction, of warning against evil, of counsel to all that is good? Do I ask for grace wisely to govern my tongue, and profitably to use it, to the glory of God and the good of men, remember- ing that "if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man"?

Is there anything better than the tongue? Is it not the bond of society, the organ of truth, the ex- pression of reason, the instrument of kindness to man, and of praise and adoration to God? Is there any- thing worse than the tongue? Is it not the instru- ment of strife, the means of contention, the source of division and wars, the organ of error, of lies, of calumny, of blasphemies?—ÆSOP.

Words are things of little cost,

Quickly spoken, quickly lost;

We forget them, but they stand,

Witnesses at God's right hand.

Grant us, Lord, from day to day,

Strength to watch, and grace to pray:

May our lips from sin set free,

Ever speak for truth and thee!