this dark world to lead others to the Lamb.

FRAGRANCE.

Every saintly life on earth, is a sweet fragrance unto God, and every
sinful life is a stench in his nostrils. As the rose scents the evening
air, so a pure life scatters a sweet Christian influence and a knowledge
of God throughout the world. The literal translation of 2 Cor. 2:14
reads thus: "But thanks be to God, who leads me on from place to place
in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies
of Christ, and by me sends forth the knowledge of him, a stream of
fragrant incense, throughout the world." A saintly life diffuses a
sweet, heavenly fragrance throughout the world, and brings a knowledge
of God and the nature of his salvation to the minds of men. Let me
exhort you, therefore, to a pure life, a life full of devotion and
reverence to God. You can make your life, by God's grace, a constant,
flowing stream of fragrant incense, whose sweetness will linger long on
the air after you have passed to higher realms. So may it be.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you." Mat. 6:33. An injunction of much
importance is here given. Verses 24 to 34 of this chapter show how
beautifully it is in the plan of God to care for his own. We are taught
to have our trust in God for what we eat, for what we drink, for what we
wear--for all the necessities of this life. We are referred to the fowls
of the air and the lilies of the field, which take no thought for their
life, but live in their happy, independent way, without care or trouble.
These God cares for and says we are of more value than they.

What a valuable lesson we are to learn from this! But is it really true
that we are to have the same degree of freedom from care or anxiety that
the fowls or the lilies have? We shall also ask, Is it really possible?
This lesson surely teaches that we are to have such a trust in our
Maker, and therefore it must be possible. The apostle Paul instructs us
in Phil. 4:6, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God." And in another place, "I would have you without carefulness." Our
lives are to be free from worry or anxiety about anything and
everything. This feature alone of the divine life, or this principle
alone in the economy of God's gracious plan, ought to repres