ere otherwise engaged.

"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." That
great Companionship will make us negligent of carnal allurements. "The
world, and the flesh, and the devil" may stand by the wayside, and hold
their glittering wares before us, but we shall scarcely be aware of their
presence. We are otherwise engaged. We are absorbed in the "Lover of our
souls."

This is the only real and effective way to meet temptation. We must meet
it with an occupied heart. We must have no loose and trailing affections.
We must have no vagrant, wayward thoughts. Temptation must find us engaged
with our Lover. We must "offer no occasion to the flesh." Walking with the
Holy One, our elevation is our safety.

JUNE The Fourth

_LIFE'S REAL VALUES_

PROVERBS viii. 10-19.

Here is a man who knows the relative values of things. "_Instruction is
better than silver_"; "_knowledge rather than choice gold_"; "_wisdom is
better than rubies._" He weighs the inherent worth of things, and puts his
choice upon the best.

Let me remember that "all is not gold that glitters." The leaden casket is
often the shrine of the priceless scroll. The glaring and the theatrical
have often a ragged and seamy interior, and won't bear "looking into." A
man may have much display and be very lonely; he may have piles of wealth
and be destitute of joy. His libraries may cover an acre, and yet he may
have no light. And a man may have only "a candle, and a table, and a bed,"
and he may be the companion of the eternal God.

I would seek these priceless things. And I would "_seek them early_." I
have so often been late in the search. I have given the early moments to
seeking the world's silver and gold, and the later weary moments have been
idly devoted to God. "They that seek Me early shall find Me." Let me put
"first things first." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness."

JUNE The Fifth

_THE SPEECH OF EVENTS_

ACTS xiii. 14-23.

Do I sufficiently remember the witness of history? Do I reverently listen
to the "great voice behind me"? God has spoken in the speech of events.
"Day unto day" has uttered speech. There has been a witness in national
life, sometimes quiet as a fragrance, and sometimes "loud as a vale when
storms are gone." Is it all to me as though it had never been, or is it
part of the store of counsel by which I shape and guide my life?

And do I sufficiently remember my ow