he once arid wilderness was now the fertile dwelling place
of many happy families.

"What had wrought this great change? Nothing but the hand and mind of
man, guided by the maker of the universe, who seems to have stored
rich treasures everywhere for those who will reach out for them. It
happened in this way:

"One day, a certain man beheld the snow-capped mountains--cold and
forbidding--and then he turned his gaze to the earth--parched and
dead. He knew that if he could only unite the waters of the
snow-capped mountains with the dead earth below them, 'the desert
would blossom as the rose.' Before this thing happened, two-thirds of
the entire area of the United States was a desert waste. But the
waters were brought down, and the great transformation followed.
Gradually, the arid waste is disappearing and the forces of irrigation
are expanding; and the vast western country is unfolding to the
millions who are spreading over its newly-discovered areas of wealth.

"Let us turn quickly to the application. There are, in every
community, many human deserts--men and women, boys and girls, whose
unproductive lives need the waters of life to make them blossom and
bring forth fruit in His kingdom. Perhaps they have beheld Him only as
a cold, forbidding mountain peak, and if this is true, they should
catch the spirit of the Psalmist who cried, 'My soul thirsteth for
thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no
water is.'

"In the case of the desert, it is conversion, pure and simple. May the
heavenly waters of His grace come to each one of us today, whether it
be a first decision to be united with Him, or whether it be a decision
to return to Him whom we have deserted.

"Our duty toward our fellow men conies before us happily in these
words from the prophet Isaiah, 'If thou draw out thy soul to the
hungry and afflicted soul, thou shalt be like a spring of water whose
waters fail not.'"

REFLECTING AND BLESSING
--Helpfulness
--Testimony

Those Who Are "The Light of the World" Should be a Guide to Those
Who Are in Darkness.

THE LESSON--That those who have received the light from God's Word
should gladly reflect that light to those about them.

The central thought of this illustration is the responsibility which
rests upon God's children in the spreading of the brightness of
Christianity to those who must receive it through them. It is
appropriate for many occasions and will fit audie