Going to the Root.-Scripture is more concerned with the root of things than their fruit. "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death "by sin." All true conviction carries one back to the first departure. " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity," said David; his awful sin did not blind him to the fact that a condition of soul had made it possible. Whether it be the sinner awakened for the first time to his true standing before God, or the saint whose soul has wandered far from his first love, or an assembly of saints who have become entangled in strife and evil, the principle remains that the root must be reached if we are to learn the lesson which God would teach. We may deplore the results of failure which may be manifest enough in the individual or company, but God would have us go further, and let Him place His hand upon the spring of all our trouble. Departure from Him, we can surely say, is the root of all declension. "I have against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

We are living in times of much superficiality. Sober convictions are not deep, and therefore results are not permanent. May we invite the holy searching of our God, as the Psalmist, and say:"Search me, O Lord, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." S. R.