fellow replied, "I won't do it." Mother asked, “Charlie, do you know what I mean?" She soon found out that he did, and that he had no intention of picking up the book. She saw it was a matter of her requiring obedience then or of having him break her heart later; so she repeated, "Charlie, I want you to go and pick up uncle's book and put it on the table." He replied this time, "I can't." "I shall certainly punish you if you do not obey," was the mother's response. He knew that his mother meant what she said, so he straightened himself up, and said, "Mamma, I can't do it; it is too heavy." He had probably reasoned himself into so thinking. But his mother knew he was deceiving himself, so she held to her point. Finally, to convince her, he went over and put both his little arms around the book, and tugged and pulled, and said he could not lift it. Mother said: "Charlie, I shall not tell you again. Pick up the book now and put it on the table, or I shall punish you very hard." He looked her in the eye a moment, then picked the Bible up quickly and placed it on the table. How often it is thus with the sinner!

If you were only willing to take the water of life, you could do it. The only hard thing is to be willing. May God's Spirit give you no peace or rest until you are willing!

Hear what God says about you: "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11. This verse teaches plainly that according to the unchangeable law of God, wicked men must turn or die. God promises that if they will turn, they shall live. He takes more pleasure in men's conversion than in their death. He would rather they turn and live than go on in wickedness and die. Notice that God is so much in earnest about your salvation, He repeats the command. He even condescends to reason

with you, and to ask why you will die. Evidently, if at last you are lost, it will be no fault of God's. Men die because they will die, because they refuse to turn.

Why will you perish? There is no good reason why you should throw away eternal happiness. You can offer no reason why you should destroy yourself. You can find no fault with God, His work, or His wages. That the devil is a good master and God a bad one, you know is the biggest lie ever palmed off on the human race. Will it harm you to live a holy life? Will it hurt you to permit God's Holy Spirit a place in your heart? What are you afraid of losing? Friends? You will get truer ones. Pleasures? You will find better, purer ones. "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Psalm 84: 10.

Why is it that men who claim to be wise, who profess to use reason in all matters, are so foolish in this? They are in darkness, and refuse to come to the light. A man born blind can not understand light. Let God open your eyes.

When Lafayette last visited America, the people gave him a royal reception. A fleet of vessels went out to meet him; the band played "Hail to the Chief” and the national music of France; and it is told that he was unmoved through it all. As he came ashore, land and water trembled with the power of artillery. Old soldiers saluted him as they shouted his welcome; but he was still unmoved. With waving banners and under triumphal arches, he was taken to Castle Garden, where most of the great men of the nation were gathered to give him greeting; yet he was not moved. But when he had taken his seat in the amphitheater, and the curtain was lifted, and he saw before him a perfect representation of the place in France where he was born and brought up - the old home, so filled with tender memories, the home where his father and mother had

lived and died

the great man was touched. Bowing his head, he wept like a child.

If I could only draw the curtain aside and show you a picture of the home of the saved; if I could only lift the veil and let you see that city with gates of pearl, and that better land where flowers fade not and there is no death, I am sure your heart would break, and never again would you say, "I don't feel like being there."

On one of our park lakes, a boat was upset, and among others, a boy and his mother were thrown into the water. The boy was a strong swimmer, and his first thought was of his mother. He did his best to save her; but in her struggles, she almost succeeded in drowning both. He was forced, from failing strength, to turn away and leave her. At her memorial service, as he looked into her white face, a friend heard him say softly: "Mother, I tried to save you; I did my best to save you; but you would not let me.'

Reader, must Jesus some day say this of you? You will decide aright just now, will you not? "Now is the accepted time." "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

JOMETIMES we hear the excuse, "I am waiting for a friend." So you are willing to let your best Friend, Jesus, wait, while you wait for some earthly friend! You turn a deaf ear to His pleading voice until such time as some worldly friend decides to acknowledge Him as the Saviour. Suppose your friend never yields; what then? Are you willing to face eternal loss with a rebellious child of God, while the Friend of sinners waits and pleads in vain?

Who is this friend you are waiting for? A husband, perhaps, or a wife; or is it some acquaintance of whom you think a great deal? Why do you wait? Do you think you help your friend by waiting? You do not; and what is more, you are not true to yourself, to your friend, or to your God, when you make such

an excuse.

It is absolutely impossible to be true to any friend unless you are first true to your best Friend. The devil has deceived men and women from the very beginning into thinking they can be true to a friend apart from God; but they can not. You remember that Adam tried it; and how miserably he failed! He went into sin with his eyes wide open. He loved Eve more than he loved God. "I will eat of the forbidden fruit, and die with you," he said. He professed to Eve that he loved her enough to die with her. How did his love last? A little later we find him hiding behind this woman, and blaming her before God for the whole bad business. So it ever turns out in the end when we put a friend before God.

You are waiting for a friend. Did it never occur to you that your friend may be waiting for you? Your example might give him the added courage to take the step. How will you answer to God for your evil influ