Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty: open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.Proverbs xx. 4, 13.

The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.

He coveteth greedily all the day long; but the righteous giveth, and spareth not.-xxi. 25, 26.

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.-xxiv. 30—34.

The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.

As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.

The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.-xxvi. 13—15. Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.—xxvii. l.

Scripture-passages of this kind pourtray in vivid colours the wretchedness of the victims of sloth, self-indulgence, and procrastination. These vices, when once rooted, grow as naturally as weeds in a garden. There is one among

these noxious plants, which should be especially pointed out to such young persons as are desirous of properly cultivating their minds and habits: it is, The love of Ease; a kind of low, creeping, Bindweed. If permitted to overrun the soil, it entwines itself about every thing, and is exceedingly difficult to root up.-The opposite of this temper is, Alacrity; so pleasing in youth, so valuable in maturer years.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. -Eccles. ix. 10.

In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.-xi. 6.

Some minds are quite beclouded with melancholy, when they contemplate the uncertainty of all human events: indolent and timid persons, under partial religious impressions, are especially liable to this. Strong exertion should be used, to shake it off: for it is alike destructive to the quiet repose of faith, and to the lively effort of faith.Others fastidiously choose their plans, and nicely balance their reasons: they will just do this, and not do that, as though they would expend none of their energies, excepting on measures sure to be successful. A hearty resolute

Christian strikes into a different path; undertakes every duty, from a sense of duty; calculates consequences with self-distrust; neither wastes nor grudges his pains; but ventures on the promises of God, and the resources of Providence, largely and boldly. "The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand."

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; and walk

in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.—Eccles. xi. 9.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.-xii. 1.

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

Like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed: undertake for me.

What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these

things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

Behold, for peace I had a great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

For the grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy_truth.

The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments, all the days of our life, in the house of the LORD.Isaiah xxxviii. 9—20.

"The Writing:"-as it were, an Extract from the private Diary of this pious King; in which he was specially guided by the Holy Spirit. In it we see Hezekiah, 1. Bemoaning himself on account of-Life shortened, Pain suffered, Spirits sunk: yet, 2. Extolling his God and Saviour for-Restoring Love, Pardoning Mercy, and Usefulness prolonged. This "Writing" is very suitable for the sick, the infirm, and the dying; but especially for those who have been "recovered from sickness."

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.-Lamentations iii. 22, 23.

Give us this day our daily bread.—Matthew vi.11.

And in the morning, rising up`a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.-Mark i. 35.

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. - Luke vi. 12.

new.

Thus did Jesus rest from past labours, and prepare for In the instance, especially, mentioned by St. Luke, his prayer was preparatory to one of the most solemn events recorded in the Gospels; that of setting apart his Disciples to their office. He was praying for the evangelizers of the

whole world!

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would

« AnteriorContinuar »