e man who played the piccolo stayed his fingers for a moment, thinking
that his trifling contribution would never be missed. At once Sir Michael
raised his hand, and said: "Stop! Where's the piccolo?" He missed the
individual note. And my Lord needs the note of my life to make the music
of His Kingdom, and if the note be absent He will miss it, and the
glorious music will be broken and incomplete.

There is a common vice of self-conceit, but there is also a common vice of
excessive self-depreciation. "My Lord can do nothing with me!" Yes, my
Lord knows thee and needs thee! And by the power of His grace thou canst
accomplish wonders!

JANUARY The Seventeenth

_SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT_

"_My sheep hear My voice!_"
--JOHN x. 19-30.

This is spiritual discernment. We may test our growth in grace by our
expertness in detecting the voice of our Lord. It is the skill of the
saint to catch "the still small voice" amid all the selfish clamours of
the day, and amid the far more subtle callings of the heart. It needs a
good ear to catch the voice of the Lord in our sorrows. I think it
requires a better ear to discern the voice amid our joys! The twilight
helps me to be serious; the noonday glare tends to make me heedless.

"_And they follow Me!_" Discernment is succeeded by obedience. That is the
one condition of becoming a saint--to follow the immediate call of the
Lord. And it is the one condition of becoming an expert listener. Every
time I hear the voice, and follow, I sharpen my sense of hearing, and the
next time the voice will sound more clear.

"_And I give unto them eternal life._" Yes, life is found in the ways of
a listening obedience. Every faculty and function will be vitalized when I
follow the Lord of life and glory. "In Christ shall all be made alive."

My Saviour, graciously give me the listening ear! Give me the obedient
heart.

JANUARY the Eighteenth

_FALSE SHEPHERDS_

EZEKIEL xxxiv. 1-10.

This word of the Lord puts before me the unlovely lineaments of the false
shepherds.

They are self-seeking. They "_feed themselves_," but they "_feed not
the flock_." They take up religion for what they can make out of it! It
is a carnal ambition, not a holy service. It is used for getting, not for
giving, for self-glorification and not for self-sacrifice. It is
selfishness masquerading as holiness, the thief in the garb of the
shepherd.

And, therefore, the false shepherds are devoid o