The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1898, Page 3

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: The Lutheran Pioneer. 3

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Rules for Daily Life.

Begin the day with God ;
Kneel down to Him in prayer;
Lift up thy heart to His abode,
And seek His love to share.

Open the Book of God
And read a portion there,

That it may hallow all thy thoughts
And sweeten all thy care.

Go through the day with God,
Whate’er thy work may be;
Where’er thou art —at home, abroad—
He still is near to thee.

Converse in mind with God ;
Thy spirit heavenward raise,
Acknowledge every good bestowed,
And offer grateful praise.

Conclude the day with God:
Thy sins to Him confess;

Trust In the Lord’s atoning blood,
And plead his righteousness.

Lie down at night with God,
Who gives His servants sleep;
And when thou tread’st the vale of death,

He will thee guard and keep.
Selected.
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Just in Time.

Farmer Jones attended the church service
on the last evening of the year. He had not
been in church for some time, but he would
not miss the last service.

The pastor preached a very earnest sermon.
He called his hearers to repentance; he told
them to bury all grudge and hatred, since they
might not live to see the first hour of the
new year.

Farmer Jones listened attentively. The
word of God touched his heart. He became
restless. He felt uneasy on his way home.
How he hurried on! He did not know whether
he would live to see the first hour of the new
year. And he had a grudge to bury. There
was peace to be made between him and his
brother.

On the other side of the village lived his
brother William. With him he had quarreled
for the last ten months. ‘This brother lay very
sick. People said he would not recover, and
on Christmas day he had sent to Farmer Jones
and had asked him to come and see him, but
Farmer Jones would not come. And now
Jones trembled at the thought that the last
hour might come to him or to his brother be-
fore the end of the year. He hurried on
through the deep snow, sighing, ‘‘God, be
merciful to me for Thy dear Son’s sake! Let
me get there in time!’’

He hurried on, past his own farm and dwell-
ing, where wife and child were waiting for his
coming. He hurried on, until he saw his
brother’s house at a distance.

He soon stood at the door and heard the
Sobbing within. Without knocking he entered.
“God be praised,”? he said, as he saw his
brother lying on the bed.

The sick brother's face beamed with joy.

He was too weak to stretch forth his hands,
but his lips whispered thanks to God.

‘Just in time,’’ said an aged woman, ‘‘he
is dying.”’

In time! Farmer Jones trembled as he ap-
proached his brother’s bed and said, ‘‘Peace
be between you and me, William, peace! For-
give me all the wrong that I have done!”’

‘*Yes, peace!’’ whispered the dying brother.
‘*Be kind to my wife and children.’”’

With tears in her eyes his wife said to
Farmer Jones, ‘‘He has always listened; he
thought he heard your step; and I had sent
a messenger to your house, but your folks
said you were not at home; and he thought
he could not die without having seen you and
without having made peace.’’

‘J was at church,’’ said Farmer Jones,
‘‘and I came here, because I had become un-
easy and restless. God be praised that I came
in time.’’

A half an hour later he would have been too
late. The brothers were reconciled! And now
Farmer Jones asked God’s forgiveness for
Jesus’ sake. He began a happy new year.

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Even in Affliction.

The new year may bring to the believer
hours and days of affliction, but even then he
can praise his heavenly Father.

A young lady went to call upon a cripple,
taking some sweet flowers to the invalid. After
a little conversation the visitor asked:

‘Don’t you get tired of being tied to that
bed day and night, week after week ?’’

“Yes, I think I do sometimes; that is, I
grow bodily tired,’’ was the answer. ‘‘But
I try not to think of that. I want to remember
only that God is good and merciful. In His
love He spared me, even though I am acripple,
to live that I might learn to love Him here.
You see, before I was hurt, I did not think
about Him as being a real Friend and Helper.
But since I have been compelled to lie here
quiet and helpless, I can find joy and thank-
fulness even in my aflliction; I live to serve
Him who redeemed me, and that crowds out
almost every other thought.’”

And the one who had come to minister went
away, feeling that she had received more than
she had given during that brief visit to one
who could thank God even in aflliction.

A gentleman met an old blind woman, who
was trying to find her way along the road
with a stick. He compassionately said to her,
“Grandmother, a great misfortune has indeed
befallen you.”’

‘‘What misfortune ?”’ said the old woman.
“Only since I became blind, I have learned to
see, I see my sin and my Lord’s mercy. He
has opened the eyes of the blind. I thank
Him every day for His merciful visitation.
Jam not unhappy, but am blessed in the Lord
and in His mercy.”” Having received a great
blessing, she could thank God even in affliction.

A pastor, who had instructed a deaf and
dumb boy, wrote the following question on
a slate: ‘‘Who created heaven and earth?”

The boy wrote the answer, ‘‘In the begin-
ning God created the heaven and the earth.’’

The pastor then asked, ‘‘Why did Jesus
Christ come into the world ?”

The boy answered, ‘‘This is a faithful say-
ing, and worthy of all exceptation, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners.”’

The pastor then asked, ‘‘Why were you
born deaf and dumb, whilst I can hear and
speak ?’’

The boy again wrote as an answer a Bible
verse: ‘‘Even so, Father; for so it seemed
good in Thy sight.’’ In quiet submission to
God’s will he could praise Him even in afflic-
tion. .

A poor Christian on his bed of suffering,
pointing to an orange lying near him, said to
his visitor, ‘‘See, I am a poor man, but I have
an orange to refresh me, while my Saviour
had only vinegar and gall to quench His
thirst.’’ Thinking of God’s mercies he could
thank Him even in affliction.

When the Rev. Dr. Bengel, the great Lu-
theran divine, had buried one of his children,
he wrote to a friend: ‘‘If we were but able
to catch a glimpse of the blessedness of those
who have preceded us to the realms of bliss,
we should never more know a sorrow on their
account; our sorrow would be reserved for
those who are left behind. We should, there-
fore, permit this breath of heaven which has
reached us through the door that was opened
to admit our darling, to arouse us anew, not
to wish them back, but to follow after them.
Nobody would regard those fortunate who
have been at rest for ten, a hundred, or a
thousand years, if they should be called back
to the struggles and dangers of this earthly
life; why, then, do we regard it as such a
calamity when one of our number has been
called thither? Has a gap been made in the
family circle? Then a new seat in heaven is
occupied. The nearer the end of all things
approaches, the less there ought to be to hold
us here, the more there ought to be to cause
us to long to go hence; for the nearer the end,
the more of God’s children shall we meet
there, the shorter time will we have to wait for
those who are left behind, and then we shall
all be united and be forever with the Lord.”

And when another child of Bengel’s had
died during his wife’s absence, and she, on
returning to the house, inquired after the
child’s welfare, he answered in a voice which
betrayed only heavenly emotion: ‘The babe
lives and praises God.””

It is, indeed, a great sorrow that floods the
soul, when the hand of death snatches away
some one that has been very dear tous. But
looking to the unspeakable and everlasting
bliss which the loved one enjoys in heaven,
the child of God can praise His heavenly
Father even in that great affliction.