you, saying, "How long, oh Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on earth?" Oh see, then, that your
influence be wielded for good.

"For round the heart thy power hast spun
A thousand dear mysterious ties;
Then take the heart thy charms have won,
And nurse it for the skies!"

CHAPTER VI.

HOME AS A STEWARDSHIP.

"Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy
wages."--EXODUS II., 9.

"For look, how many souls in thy house be,
With just as many souls God trusteth thee!"

The Christian home is a stewardship. The parents are stewards of God. A
steward is a servant of a particular kind, to whom the master commits a
certain portion of his interest to be prosecuted in his name and by his
authority, and according to his laws and regulations. The steward must act
according to the will of his master, in his dealing with what is committed
to his care. Such was Eliezer in the house of Abraham; and such was Joseph
in the house of Potiphar. One of the specific duties of a steward was to
dispense portions of food to the different members of the household, to
give servants their portion in due season, and to superintend the general
interests of the master's household.

In a religious sense, a steward is a minister of Christ, whose duty is to
dispense the provisions of the gospel, to preach its doctrines and to
administer its ordinances. It is required of such that they be found
faithful.--1 Cor., chap. iv.

In its application to the Christian home, it expresses its relation of
subordination to God, and the kind of services which the former must render
to the latter. The stewardship of home is that official character with
which God has invested the family. In this sense the proprietorship of
parents is from God. They are invested only with delegated authority. Their
home is held by them only in trust. It belongs to them in the same sense in
which a household belongs to a steward. It is not at their absolute
disposal. It is the "household of the Lord," and they are to live and rule
therein as the Lord directs. They are to appropriate it and dispose of its
interests according to the known law and will of their divine Master, and
in this sense, yield, with their whole household, a voluntary subordination
to His authority.

As a stewardship, God has entrusted the Christian home with important
interests. He has committed to her trus