February 7

They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.—Luke 2:22.

IT behoved Christ to be subjected to all the ceremonies of the law. Hence, when eight days old, according to the law, he underwent the rite of circumcision. In addition to this, there was the ordinance of presentation, when the mother should appear in the temple with her first child, and should offer a sacrifice to the Lord. If the person was rich, the law required a lamb and pigeon; if poor, a small gift only was required. Such being the case with Mary, she offered "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons." The act itself was designed to imply the giving up of the child, as the first fruit, to the Lord. Whatever difference may exist in the church, as to the propriety of infant baptism, there can be none as to the importance of presenting our children by believing prayer to God. Children are the gifts of heaven; and the best way of expressing our gratitude to the giver, and our love to the gifts, is to dedicate them, as far as we can to God and train them up in the way of divine fear and obedience. Never had mother such a child to present, as on this occasion. A child in whom were embodied all the glories of the Godhead. Never was the temple so honoured as now, when the saying of the prophet was literally accomplished—"The glory of the latter house shall be greater than that of the former. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Haggai 2:6. 9.) Never was a child to be dedicated, so connected with the divine glory, and to all that is interwoven with the great and immortal concerns of a dying world. This offer-

F ing conferred unrivalled dignity on both the temple and the priest. And never did God receive a consecrated child with such complacency and delight. How pleasing it is to contemplate every part and stage of human existence as sanctified by Christ. He has sanctified the helplessness of infancy, by being the infant of days. He who bears up all systems and all worlds, was carried and borne up a little child before the Lord. He whom all the celestial hosts delight to worship and honour, was carried to the temple, there to receive the prayer and blessing of him who ministered before the altar. We cannot fail to be reminded, also, of the great pleasure and interest which Jesus afterwards took in little children. How he rebuked the disciples who would have kept them at a distance, and how he took them in his arms, and blessed them, saying "of such is the kingdom of God."