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58 THE EARNEST CHBISTIAN.H:rltbecome a serpent to wound your hand,and send its poison with throbs of agonyinto your bursting heart From ourdearest friends come our sweetest earthlypleasures and our bitterest woes."What bodily grief can be comparedwitb that which is caused by the discoveryof hearfclessness in those whomwe bave loved and trusted? Seeinghow false everything but God appears,and how idol after idol is swept fromyour embrace, how can you wisely leanon a human arm to sustain you in the'hour of your great need? See whatsalvation wUl do for you in afilictions.Go to yonder lonely cottage—the dayis cold and stormy, yet a faithful pastorhas just called. He is making apastoral visit Let us enter with him.What a lone and cheerless room 1 Thesnow bas been drifting through the roofand under the door upon the uncarpetedfloor. There is scarcely an ember burningon the hearth. Mark that old,trembUng man seated in a broken armchair,with an open Bible npon bisknees. How serene his aspect! Seetbe rapture in his eyes,—tbe sweetsmile upon bis lips. Hark! the pastorspeaks: " What are you doing to day,brother?" "Oh, sir;" the happy oldman replies; "I am sitting under Hisshadow with great delight!" What anoverflowing fonntain of bliss must tbelove of Christ have been to tbat chUdof poverty, to make him so triumphantover outward circumstances!be able to separate us from the love ofGod which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."Are you panting for a deeper workof graoe? Would you drink deepdraughts of the sweetest stream of de­Ught that ever flowed through the humansoul ? Give your heart fully toChrist. Would yon possess that hopewhich anchors the soul so safely that itoutrides the most terrific storms of life?Give your heart to Christ Oh, itmeans much to have our lives hid withChrist ia God. Then gather up yonrsoul's affections—^bind them to the crossof Jesus, and continually consecrateyourselves to Him whose service isfreedom, whose ways are paths of happiness,and at whose right hand thereare "Pleasures forevermore."CONTEMPLATION.One of old sweetly compares contemplationto the eagle; for as tbe eagfefastens her eye npon the radiant beamsof tbe beantiful snn, so conteroplatioois stUl viewing the glorious beams oftheSun of Righteousness; it is still conversantabout the high and profitablethings of salvation. Or else, I maycompare it to those birds, of wh«BDavid speaks, tbat build tbeir nestsby the altar of God. This is thecelestial bird, that buUds ber nestabout the throne of glory. This is thebee which flyeth into the sweetestgardens, and sucks honey from eveiyflower of paradise.By meditation I can converse withGod—solace myself in the bosom of.my beloved; bathe myself in rivers ofpleasures; tread the paths of my rest,and view the mansions of my eteraity.What gainest thon, thee, O ray sonl!in tbis valley of tears ! Up upon themount, and view tbe Land of Promise.What canst thon look for in thisThis precious love of Christ, wiU, ifwe come to Him, absorb aU bur naturesand satisfy aU our demands. It is everfresh, new, and increasingly delightful.Tbe sanctifying grace calls forth thedeepest and most exquisite feelings ofwhich the human soul is capable. Itfills it, and leaves it nothing to wishfor. 'True piety elevates, ennobles anddevelops all that is great and beautifulin man. It so raises tbe human to the wUderness of trouble !divine, that he can say with the strongheartedPaul: "I am persuaded thatneither death, nor life, nor angels, norprincipaUties, nor powers, nor thingspresent, nor things to come, nor height,nor depth, nor any other creature, shaUUp upon thewing, ahd take thy flight to heaven: letthy thoughts be where tby happiness is,and let the heart be where tby thoughtsare: though thy habitation may be onearth, yet thy conversation shaU be inheaven.