r house, but
we mark some rooms "Private." And that word "Private," denying the Lord
admission, crucifies Him afresh. He has no joy in the house so long as any
rooms are withheld.

Dr. F. B. Meyer has told us how his early Christian life was marred and
his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one key from the
bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one
room kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. And the effects of the
incomplete consecration were found in lack of power, lack of assurance,
lack of joy and peace.

The "joy of the Lord" begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with
Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered all our crowns, and
made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.

FEBRUARY The Fifteenth

_THE WITNESS OF YESTERDAY_

PSALM lxxviii. 1-8.

Our yesterdays are to be the teachers of our children. We are to take them
over our road, and show them the pitfalls where we stumbled and the snares
that lured us away. And we are to show them how we found the springs of
grace, and how the Lord made Himself known to us in daily providence and
care. We are to relate His exploits, "His wonderful dealings with the
children of men." We must make our life witness of God to our children,
and when their minds roam over our road they must see it radiant with the
grace and mercy of the Lord.

The best inheritance I can give my child is a steadfast witness of my
knowledge of God. The testimony of a light that never failed may give him
the needful wisdom when his own way becomes troubled with clouds and
darkness. And what a story it is, this story of the deeds of our gracious
God. It is full of quickening for weary and desponding souls. It is a
perfect reservoir of inspiration for those whose desire has failed, and in
whose lives the wells of impulse have become dry. Let us bring forward
yesterday's wealth to enrich the life of to-day. "Do ye not remember the
miracle of the loaves?"

FEBRUARY The Sixteenth

_CROWDING OUT GOD_

"_Lest thou forget._"
--DEUTERONOMY iv. 5-13.

That is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a
man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may
ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition,
injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending
scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the L