The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1918, Page 3

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The Lutheran Pioneer. ' ae sles 3

we have the loveliest experiences.—'The Spirit
assures us that the Gospel is no falsehood, no de-
ception, but a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation. Indeed, we say with Luther: “This
is most certainly true.” and with the poet: “I cling
to what my Savior taught, and trust it, whether
felt or not.” ;

One more thought: ‘This life, which -we have
by faith, necessarily is a life of rightsousness,
innocence, and blessedness; not a life ruled by
the flesh and given to unrighteousness. Otherwise
it could not be eternal. For the lust of this world
passeth away, and sin and unrighteousness are not
crowned with life everlasting, but end in eternal
death. Here below, it is true, even Christians are
very imperfect, although, with St. Paul, they “press
toward the mark.’ But there, in heaven, we shall
be perfect. What a glorious outlook!

H. Osrernus.

oe

A Post-Christmas Story with Added
Moral.

Dean Mission Frrenp, —

“They opened their treasures and presented unto
Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
Matt. 2,11. ‘The best they had the wise men from
the East brought the Christ-child. Gold, frank-
incense, and myrrh were the most precious of all
their treasures. And they did what was right,
for to the King Jesus one must present his best
and most precious possessions. I know this is
a hard task for children, very often still more so
for grown people; but children in particular cling
to their little treasures, being loath to part with
them. ;

I once knew a little girl whose supreme desire
was to possess a little golden heart-locket, a chain,
of course, to go with it. She was so eager to have
and wear this pretty piece of adornment that as
’ Christmas came near, she «included the locket in
her prayers. Day upon day her ardent wish to
possess it grew more intense. At last Christmas
Eve came. ‘To her unspeakable delight, a small
- golden heart-locket, with a pretty chain, incased
in a velyet-lined little box, was one of her gifts.
She hugged and kissed it, took it to the Christmas
services, and even when put to bed, kept it in
her little hands.

But as she rested in her little crib, the words
came to her which the pastor had spoken during

the service, and which she had heard him say so
cften before: “Give Me, my child, thine heart.”
On that evening again the dear pastor had said:
“he Savior stands before you once more, asking
you, ‘Give Me, my child, thine heart.” ‘The little
maiden pressed her golden heart to her breast; she
thought this little locket was meant, and for nothing
in the world would she have missed it. But the
words came back to her again and again, “Give
Me, my child, thine heart.” She grew so excited
that the blood rushed to her cheeks, she became
uneasy, a mighty battle was raging in her breast,
and her heart was beating so fast that it seemed
ready to burst. Her good pastor had said, “The
Savior loves you so; would you not liké to do
something for your loving Savior?”

Ah, yes, she desired to do something for Him;
but why must it be just this? It was not to be
wondered at, however, that the Savior wanted just
this pretty heart; it really was so pretty!

Suddenly she leaped from her bed, ran‘into the
next room, where the Christmas-tree was standing,
and at the foot of which was a model of the Beth-
lehem stable, where Christ was born. ‘The street-
lanterns cast a gleam of light into the room, so that
the little maiden quickly found the Christ-child in
the manger. Once more she pressed her dips upon
the little golden heart and said, “Savior, here, *tis
yours,” and hung it around the neck of the image.
In a moment she was back to bed, and soon sweet
sleep enfolded her.’ >

And what became of the golden heart? "That
Christ-child’s image could do nothing with the
precious little gift, but the dear mother gave it to
the living Savior, that is, she sold it, and gave
the money realized from its sale to some mission. —

Now the moral.—January sixth will be
Epiphany. What did you give your Savior as
a Christmas-gift ?
Listen to me! When the Negroes received their
liberty, their physical bonds were loosened, and
they were bodily free, but very little did they know

of the heavenly Father’s gift to the world — the

Savior of sinners. We are carrying on the work
of teaching them the way to eternal liberty. Will
you help?— How? Here is my plan. _

Many a reader of the PioNEER has purchased

a Liberty Bond, some of them, no doubt, a goodly
Won’t you be willing to donate —

number of ‘them.
these to my Million Dollar Fund? This is a per-
manent fund, of which only the interest is avail-

able. If you accede to my request, your generosity -

Did you entirely forget it? —

.