THE DESERT and the MOUNTAIN
--Decision Day
--Conversion

A Decision Day Illustration From the Far West--"Living Water."

THE LESSON--That as the desert cannot become productive until it
receives the waters of irrigation, so the arid soul, if it is to
become fruitful, must receive the water of life.

While this illustration is especially applicable to the service of
Decision Day, it is recommended for any occasion where there is
opportunity to speak of conversion or a returning to Christ.

~~The Talk.~~

"A gentleman, a little past middle life, was traveling from the east
in a luxurious passenger train crossing one of the far western
states. As he gazed from the car window, his face wore an expression
of interest, which developed into one of wonder and excitement.

"'Can it be,' he exclaimed, addressing the man who sat with him, 'that
I am passing through the very same country which I saw but a few short
years ago? It seems impossible!'

"Now, why did it seem impossible? Let us find out. It appears that
when the man traveled the state before, he looked out of the car
windows upon a scene of barrenness and desolation. [As you speak, draw
Fig. 68 with brown crayon. Be sure to leave the mountain peaks white,
but, in order to secure an impressive pastel effect use the broad side
of your brown and your yellow crayons lightly over the entire area of
desert and mountain side.] The earth was dry and parched, and in all
directions, as far as the eye could see, grew only the sage brush--the
mark of the desert. There was no life, excepting an occasional coyote,
and the reflected heat and light made travel almost unbearable. The
monotonous earth was composed of the leveled deposits of the mountains
which the sun had baked for centuries.

[Illustration: Fig. 68]

[As you continue, change the scene by covering the brown with
green. Draw the foliage of the trees with green and the trunks with
brown. Life may be added by touching the trees with the red and the
yellow and the orange to indicate the fruit. The thought is to
transform the desert into a place of fruitfulness. This completes
Fig. 69.]

[Illustration: Fig. 69]

"But now, all was changed as if by a magic touch. In place of the sage
brush and the broad wastes of baking earth, the man beheld here great
orchards, with hundreds of fruit trees, laden with glistening apples,
oranges and pears, and wide fields were covered with bounteous crops
of grain. T