Seek to cherish in your children early the habit of being interested about the work of God, and about cases of need and distress, and use them too at _suitable times,_ and under _suitable circumstances,_ as your almoners, and you will reap fruit from doing so.
God alone can give spiritual life at the first, and keep it up in the soul afterwards.
The Christian, like the bee, might suck honey out of every flower. I saw upon a snuffer-stand in bas-relief, "A heart, a cross under it, and roses under both." The meaning was obviously this, that the heart which bears the cross for a time meets with roses afterwards.
It has been often mentioned to me, in various places, that brethren in business do not sufficiently attend to the keeping of promises, and I cannot therefore but entreat all who love our Lord Jesus, and who are engaged in a trade or business, to seek for His sake not to make any promises, except they have every reason to believe they shall be able to fulfil them, and therefore carefully to weigh all the circumstances, before making any engagement, lest they should fail in its accomplishment. It is even in these little ordinary affairs of life that we may either bring much honour or dishonour to the Lord; and these are the things which every unbeliever can take notice of. Why should it be so often said, and sometimes with a measure of ground, or even much ground: "Believers are bad servants, bad tradesmen, bad masters"? Surely it ought not to be true that _we, who have power with God to obtain by prayer and faith all needful grace, wisdom, and skill,_ should be bad servants, bad tradesmen, bad masters.