people without any means of conveyance, was, doubtless, troublesome and fatiguing. To leave house and home for ten days or a fortnight was no slight expense. But God had given Israel a command, and Joseph and Mary strictly obeyed it. God had appointed an ordinance for their spiritual good, and they regularly kept it. And all that they did concerning the passover they did to- gether. When they went up to the feast, they always went up side by side.
So ought it to be with all Christian husbands and wives. They ought to help one another in spiritual things, and to encourage one another in the service of God. Marriage, imquestionably, is not a sacrament, as the Eomish Church vainly asserts. But marriage is a state of life which has the greatest effect on the souls of those who enter into it. It helps them upwards or downwards. It leads them nearer to heaven or nearer to hell. We all depend much on the com- pany we keep. Our characters are insensibly moulded by those with whom we pass our time. To none does this apply so much as to married people. Husbands and wives are continually doing either good or harm to one another's souls.
Let all who are married, or think of being married, ponder these things well. Let them take example from the conduct of Joseph and Mary, and resolve to do likewise. Let them pray together, and read the Bible together, and go to the house of God together, and talk to one another about spiritual matters. Above all, let them beware of throwing obstacles and discouragements in one another's way about means of grace. Blessed
80 BXPOSnOBY THOUGHTS.
are those husbands who say to their wives as Elkanah, did to Hannah, ^'Do all that is in thy heart.'' Happy are those wires who say to their husbands as Leah and Rachel did to Jacob, '^Whatsoever Qod hath said unto thee, do." (1 Sam. i. 23 ; Gen. zzxi. 16.)
Let us, secondly, draw from the passage, an example for all young persam. We have it in the conduct of our Lord Jesns Christ, when He was left by Himself in Jerusalem at the age of twelve years. For four days He was out of sight of Mary and Joseph. For three days they '' sought him sorrowing," not knowing what had befallen Him. Who can imagine the anxiety of such a mother at losing such a child ? — ^And where did they find Him at last ? Not idling His time away, or getting into mischief, as many bojrs of twelve years old do. Not in vain and unprofitable company. ''They found him in the temple of God, — sitting in the midst " of the Jewish teachers, "hearing" what they had to say, and " asking questions " about things He wished to be explained.
So ought it to be with the younger members of Chris- tian families. They ought to be steady and trustworthy behind the backs of their parents, as well as before their fEu^es. They ought to seek the company of the wise and prudent, and to use every opportunity of getting spiritual knowledge, before the cares of life come on them, and while their memories are fresh and strong.
Let Christian boys and girls ponder these things well, and take example from the conduct of Jesus at the age of only twelve years. Let them remember, that if they are old enough to do wrong, they are also old enough
UJKB, CHAP. n. VER. 41 — 52. 81
to do right; and that if able to read story-books and to talk, they are also able to read their Bibles and pray. Let them remember, that they are accountable to Gbdy even while they are yet yoimg, and that it is written that God ''heard the yoiee of a lad.'' (Gen. xxi. 17.) Happy indeed are those families in which the children *' seek the Lord early/' and cost their parents no tears. Happy are those parents who can say of their boys and girls, when absent from them, "1 can trust my children that they will not wilfully run into sin,"
Let us, in the last place, draw from this passage, an example for all true Christians. We have it in the solemn words which our Lord addressed to His mother Mary, when she said to Him, '' Son, why hast thou dealt with us thus ? "— " Wist ye not," was the reply, '' that I must be about my father's business." A mild reproof was evidently implied in that reply. It was meant to remind His mother, that He was no common person, and had come into the world to do no common work. It was a hint, that she was insensibly forgetting that He had come into the world in no ordinary way, and that she could not expect Him to be ever dwelling quietly at NazaretL It was a solemn remembrancer that, as God, He had a Father in heaven, and that this heavenly Father's work demanded His first attention.
The expression is one that ought to sink down deeply into the hearts of all Christ's people. It should supply them with a mark at which they should aim in daily Hfe, and a test hy which they should try their habits and conversation. It should quicken them when they begin to be slothful. It should check them when they feel