Calendar:February 15th to March 15th.
DAILY BIBLE HEADING:………. Feb. 15th, Jer. 32; Feb. 28th, Jer. 45; March 15th, Ezek. 3. MEMORY WORK…………Reviewing of Gal. 3 and 4.
GOOD READING:"The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus," by J. G. Bellett.

Daily Reading

You are now reading the prophet Jeremiah, of whose book, you had an outline last year. I will only speak of a few simple and practical things that will occur to us. Perhaps the first may not apply to you, but I will speak of it for the benefit of any who have felt similarly. A young married couple were speaking of the fact of the book being rather "heavy," and difficult to understand. Perhaps we all feel this at times. What shall we do? Give up reading it? No. God has given us this inspired portion of His Word as well as the other Scriptures. So we will go on simply, chapter by chapter, asking and seeking for some helpful verse, as well as to see what the entire chapter is about. A little prayerful attention will disclose meanings that we had not before grasped; it will refresh and cheer our hearts, as well as search our spiritual condition.

I have been struck in the daily reading of this great prophet, with the earnestness of his message, and the call to repentance many times repeated. Even in the exuberance of the Lord's service, we need to listen to the call of the heart-searching Word, and seek the spirit of self-judgment; for it is always, good to keep the lowly place. The Lord loves to dwell with the lowly, to manifest Himself to them, and to revive the spirits of the contrite. Let us not, therefore, shrink from that which searches our hearts and brings us into the very dust before God, and we will experience the proof of His love. The humbling in self-judgment will be followed by the joy of deliverance and restoration.

I have one other oft-repeated exhortation. Let our Bible readings be the first occupation of the day. Don't be afraid to rise ten minutes earlier if that is the only way you can give God the first place in your day. It will color the whole of it, and its neglect or obedience will mark either failure or a day of blessing.

Memory Work

We are reviewing Galatians very rapidly. Perhaps some of you find it almost too rapid, and I suppose that those who are memorizing it for the first time have their hands quite full; and yet, with their bright young minds, I think it must be a delight to go over these wonderful verses in which the apostle opens up in such a masterly way the absolute supremacy of God's grace, and simple faith in Christ as the abiding principle on which He deals in blessing with men. This completely sets aside the law, not only as the ground of justification, but as the rule of life, in the real sense of the word. As a matter of fact, we find another rule given as our guide. I would say that if you find these two chapters too much, don't hesitate to say so, and we will try to make our pace suit all who are joining in this work, but whatever you do, do not neglect memory work. I can only repeat that in the closing of my life I find it of the greatest profit as well as a joy. Let us, therefore, seek to get God's Word fixed in our minds, and better yet, in our hearts. It is a blessed, a wonderful thing, to know the delivering power of the Word. I think that a knowledge of that Word is necessary to have the Word of grace dwell in us richly. How can it dwell in us richly if we are not even acquainted with it? Nor let us be discouraged because Scripture is so far above our present attainments. You will find this to be always the case. Could you wish it otherwise? What kind of a standard would that be which we could say we had already reached, and therefore had no further need of exercise and prayer?

I add one thing with regard to the memory work:it is most helpful in our prayers. It gives us material for thanksgiving. It teaches us to blend our requests (both for ourselves and for the Lord's people as a whole) with the truths which the Word sets before us for our souls' apprehension. Let us see, then, how many of you are going to enroll as regular students in this memory class.

Hints as to Service

I am very glad to hear of a number of young sisters who get together to sew for cases of need which become known to them, both in this country and in the foreign field-glad indeed that these young sisters have taken up this work, together with reading of helpful literature, and with special prayer as to the needs of each field. I must confess that a letter of inquiry went beyond my own knowledge when I was asked to furnish a list of the various ports in this country, with the number of ships entering and leaving them during the year, and the character of the work being done in them. I could only refer the writer to the brief account I had given in December last, and suggest consulting a cyclopedia or other statistical records for the desired information. We can scarcely over-estimate the importance of this work among sailors, as there are many nationalities represented – Japanese, Chinese, Cingalese, Hindus, etc., as well as various European nations. Here, as everywhere, we can say "the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few."

It was my privilege to have a conversation with our brother Peters, who has been obliged to leave the cold northern ports of Buffalo and Montreal, where he had an attractive openings, but which are now closed by the ice; he has gone to New Orleans and Galveston to work in the shipping there. We shall expect to have a report from our brother, who has promised it. Let us remember him and all other workers in this large field.

Address all correspondence for the "Young Believers' Dep't" to Mr. S. Ridout, 1138 East 7th St., Plainfield, N. J.