Vers. 22_-40.-LesSOM from IM fowl., and Ulia. Our Lord, ~aving related the 1"'1&ble agarnst covetousn01111, or the selfish use of money, proceeds in the present section to show how foolish the anxioUB thought is about these teruporal things, And her& we have to- I. C-0NSIDER HOW POOR 7HE LIFB IS WHICH MAKBB BATING AND DBEBBING TIIE OHIBP THOUGHT. (Ven,. 22, 23.) A man's life is intended t,o be much more assuredly than this; and yet are there not some who have no thought beyond this? 'l'he weight of anxiety is parely secular and physical. The devotees of the table and of the fashions make eating and dressing all. Now, the idea of the passage is that no one is so circum- stanced as to be compelled to think only or chiefly of food and raiment. There is not 11 poor man but ma.y feel that he was bom for higher thoughts and things than to "keep tbe pot bo1lmg" and to have surnething seemly to wear! He can think of the go'l'ernment of the world, a.nd gain insight into it. He can rise into the thought of the government of God's killgdom, and the noble ideas it embodies. He can make ends meet without being the slave of circumstances and the creature of a day. He can walk among the eternities like others of his kind. Hence we must be on our guard ~ainst such a low vii,w of life as this purely secular and temporal one.1 11. CoNSIDEB THK LESSON ABOUT FOOD FURNISHED BY THE FOWLS. (Vere. 24--26.) The fowls of the air are not "geutlemen a.t large," but most patient gatherers of their food. Life is not a sinecure with them, but a season of continual work. True, they do not become anxious farmers, sowing seed or reaping harvests, or building and stocking barns. They are spared a world of anxiety, but they accept the world of provision as God gives it to them. That which he gives they on unwearied wiug gather. " G,-,d feedeth them" in the wisest way, and they accept it as he sends it. Moreover, tt,e feeding of themselves is not their whole labour. There is much more in the bi.!"d's day than the quest of food. Whether they appreciate the beauty a.bout them or no; whether their thoughts a.re like ours as from dizzy heights we see magnificent landscapes or stretches of sea, we cannot of course tell; but one thing seems certain, th:u the birds realize something more in the make-up of life than the mere satisfaction ol their appetites. Their lesson is, therefore, one about a busy life, a thoughtful life, not always occupied with the satisfaction of the flesh. Let us trust God more in temporal matters, and think more of eternal things; and then life will be more thoughtful and more happy. No a.mount of thinking will add a cubit to our stature; and no amount of anxiety will deliver us from life's burdens. It is better to let God reign, and accept the conditions which in his wisdom he assigns. ill CONSIDER THE LESSON ABOUT RAIMENT FROM'. THE LILIES, (Vers. 27, 28.) Here a.gain we are face to face with nature. The purple lilies which deck the spring fields are gorgeously apparelled. Even Solomon in all his glmy was not ~ayed like ~ne ~f them. So that when God is allowed to work, he weaves a. more splendid texture ID his loom than ever was produced by man. The lilies are evidences of his microscopic care of the flower of the grass, how worthy he regards it of beautiful raiment. But then he values his children more than his plants. Men may go the length of lavishing more attention upon their exotics and their flowers than upon their children. liut this is not God's order. He has taken more thought for his human children than for all hia gardens e.nd their magnificent contents. He loves a. family more than a conservatory; a school more than a forest; a population more than a deer-park or prairie. Hence we may trust him a.bout raiment; it will come in due season and order. He will not give it to us like pauper,' clothing, for we should hardly like it ill that way; but to hones~ work there will come substantial reward. IV. CoNBIDEB THE NOTORIOUS SEOULABITY OP THE NATIONS. (Vers. 29-32.) Nuw, rbe analysis of heathenism will show that at heart heathen are BeC'/1,lar. There il5 n, Letter we.y of seeing this than by lovking into their prayers. As one ha~ said, "ldola- 1 Cf. Jl,fartiuee.a'a 'Hou11 rJ. Thought,' vol. L pp. 17-•H, os, xn. 1-69.) 'fHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 359
trous nations have in all plaoee and in all ages prayed with unanimous voice that their b~ would give them health and ph?Rical f?rce, richeH, honour, plea.si_1ro, success ; for it lii rndeed for these the paians _pray.' 1 T~ 1s what composed the hfe of pRganiHm for the most part, and does so still. There 18 all the more reason why the Lurd's littlll flock shouhl trust him about the kingdom he has promiser], and give themselves foar- les•ly to the bringing in of the k.ingdorn from above. If we seek Go<l'a kingdom anrl glory first, we shall find a sufficient amount of food anrl raiment otored for us by no ni~gard o.nd 110 pauperizing hand. V. CoN!IIDER THE BENEFIT OF ALMSOIVING. (Vere. 33, 34.) Now, by almsgivin2: we a.re to understand enlightened e.nd not lackadaisical charity. It is the in·,estment of love, the expenditure of money for Go<l's sake and for his kingdom. Jt is truly wonderful how all mav become almsgivers. Li this not proof positive that God is a bountiful Provider? How is it that there is hardly one in thia hard world but coulrl !rive if he only tried? And what a transference of the heart's affections this wil I secure ! 'l'he heart no longer grovels amid the secular and temporal, but passes outw«rd to the spiritual and eternal. 'l'hen the people whom we have tried to help, on the principle of giving " the greatest amount of needful help with the Bmallest encouragement to undue reliance on it," will form for us a bright and wholesome field for thought and hope, and the building up of God's kingdom shall be the result. VI. CoNSIDER THE DUTY OF WAITING FOR THE ADVE.."IT. (Vera. 35---40.) From almsgiving our Lord proceeds to the duty of diligence in expectation of his advent He has gone to attend a wedding, e.nd will return when the marriage is complete. This has surely an instructive bearing upon the advent as subsequent to the completed plan a.bout the bride, the Church. Bnt what we have to notice is his readiness to serve the servants who are found faithful and diligent in his work. He has had a suffioiency at the wedding-feast; he can- consequently wait at the supper-table of the servants. And what a.n honour it will be to receive RUch attention from the Lord himself! Let us, then, be semper paratUB, and then, whether his advent be soon or late, we llhall be overtaken by no surp1ise 11-R. M. E.