1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



517 



where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where 

 thieves break through and steal.— Matt 6: 19. 



And— 



Seek ye tirstihe kinfi:d()mof God and his righteous- 

 ness, and nil these things shall be added unto you.— 

 Matt. 6:33. 



And— 



Bring ye all the tithes into ihe storehouse, that 

 there may be meat in mine house, and prove me 

 now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not 

 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out 

 a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to 

 receive it.— Maij. 3:10. 



Sometimes it is hard for one to understand 

 how it is that God can need money. ]SIy 

 friend, it is this way: God needs true, loyal 

 hearts, like Abraham, Moses, and David, 

 and there can be no true loyalty where oth- 

 er things come before him. If you are giv- 

 ing more of your time, energy, strength, and 

 money, to the plans and projects of this 

 world than you are to God, he has a right to 

 feel that you are making his work only a 

 secondary matter. 



I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. -Ex. 20:5. 



How strangely these words used to sound 

 to me ! but now they are full of strange 

 beauty. Sometimes as I read the words 

 over they send a thrill of joy over me that I 

 find from no other words ia the Bible. May 

 I explain my meaning with what may per- 

 haps be deemed by some a homely illustra- 

 tion of God's love for us V There was a 

 time in your life when you tirst met your 

 wife, when you hardly knew whether she 

 loved you or not. In your boyish enthusi- 

 asm you were ready to throw down the 

 whole world, or give it all up, for her sake; 

 and may be then sit down and cry because 

 there were no more worlds for you to give 

 up, or throw away in the same way. Per- 

 haps your good wife may smile at this; and 

 while she looks upon you she wonders if it 

 is possible you are really the same "old chap" 

 who was ever guilty of any such preposter- 

 ous folly. Yes, you are, and I thank God 

 for it; for, next to his God, should every 

 man hold the life of her who once put all 

 her trust and faith in his keeping. Well, 

 now to our point : Can you not remember 

 the first time you noticed any symptom of 

 jealousy in this new friend and companion 

 of yours? Very likely she never spoke of it, 

 but you might catch it by a look sometimes, 

 that" she exi)ected no other woman in this 

 wide world was ever to stand in just the re- 

 lationship to you that she now stood, and 

 expected to stand, so long as life lasted. 

 Can you not conceive of something here 

 that "hardly deserves the name of jealousy, 

 but rather something sacred and holy? You 

 sought her, and wanted her to be the queen 

 of your life and affections; she steps to her 

 throne, and bids you tear down all other 

 idols. My friend, as you value your peace 

 of mind in this world, and in the world to 

 come, hold true to this sacred promise, given 

 more in actions than words, perhaps; and 

 though years may have passed, be sure that 

 not even in thought, look, or action, are you 

 unfaithful to yourpartof the contract. Well, 

 when you accepted Christ as your Savior, 

 you took him in the same way. My feeble 

 illustration of what you all know an earth- 

 ly tie should be, may make it plainer what 



God means when he speaks of being a jeal- 

 ous God. He is to come first and foremost. 

 He asks you for money ; for where the trea- 

 sure is, there is the heart also. I believe 

 most churches will accord you the privilege 

 of paying or not, as you choose, or what you 

 choose ; but woe betide the man who thinks 

 he can be happy by paying all his other 

 debts, and letting the debt he owes to the 

 Church go unpaid. Suppose the man who 

 asked the woman of his choice to be the 

 queen of his life and home should refuse to 

 give her enough to eat. Listen: — 



Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed mc. But 

 ye sav, Wherein have we roiibed thee? In tithes and 

 offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have 

 robbed me, even this whole nation.— M.A.L. 3:8, 9. 



If we have a true loyal spirit toward God, 

 it seems to me we can hardly be tempted 

 very much to withhold our tithes ; but yet 

 one may stumble right here, just as he may 

 be greatly blessed in giving liberally. A lit- 

 tle hymn expresses so clearly where a Chris- 

 tian should stand, that he may be proof 

 against all these temptations, I wish to give 

 a couple of verses of it here:— 



My Jesus, I love thpe, I know thou art mine, 



For thee all the follies of sin I resign; 



Jly gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou — 



If' ever 1 love thee, my Jesus, 'tis now. 



I'll love thee in life, I'll love thee in death. 



And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath ; 



And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow. 



If ever! loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now. 



Y''ou should unite with the Church for 

 your own good. You need to be in good 

 company. Everybody, young and old, needs 

 to be in good company. The Christian boys 

 and girls of our town form a little company 

 whose influence few can resist. Strangers 

 coming into our town, who are led to come 

 into our young people's prayer-meeting, say, 

 almost invariably, " Why, what a nice lot of 

 intelligent young people you have there! " 

 The boys whom I find in our jail, when tak- 

 en across the way to this meeting, say, al- 

 most with one accord, " Why, Mr. Root, if I 

 could be in such company as that, I know I 

 could be a good man." I know they could 

 too ; and if they would stay in such com- 

 pany, they probably would. The very at- 

 mosphere of the room seems to speak of 

 something elevating and ennobling. It is 

 well worth one's while to have clean men 

 and women for his associates. One would 

 hardly need tell you, as you look upon the 

 faces of these young people, that none of the 

 boys were in the habit of drinking, smok- 

 ing, or swearing ; and as you looked upon 

 the bright happy faces of the young women, 

 you need hardly be told that none of them 

 are bold and forward; or that their language 

 is free from slang, and talk about flirtations 

 with the other sex, and that they are not fre- 

 quenters of the ball-room, and addicted to 

 late hours. At our State Fair, as one of the 

 judges, I was offered a ticket for dinner. 



" Would you just as soon have a ticket for 



the church eating-roomsV " said a 



yoting man. 



"By all means, let me have my dinner 

 with God's people," thought I, if I did not 

 say it in just these words. I had almost 

 been made homesick by seeing the rows of 

 beer-barrels that graced (!) the fair-grounds 

 of the capital of our State this year as well 

 as last, and I longed for the companionship 



