Page 177 - The Faith I Live By (1958)

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One Lease of Life, June 10
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the
evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I
have no pleasure in them.
Ecclesiastes 12:1
.
Life is mysterious and sacred. It is the manifestation of God Himself,
the source of all life. Precious are its opportunities, and earnestly should
they be improved. Once lost, they are gone forever.
Before us God places eternity, with its solemn realities, and gives
us a grasp on immortal, imperishable themes. He presents valuable,
ennobling truth, that we may advance in a safe and sure path, in pursuit
of an object worthy of the earnest engagement of all our capabilities.
God looks into the tiny seed that He Himself has formed, and
sees wrapped within it the beautiful flower, the shrub, or the lofty,
widespreading tree. So does He see the possibilities in every human
being. We are here for a purpose. God has given us His plan for our life,
and He desires us to reach the highest standard of development.
He desires that we shall constantly be growing in holiness, in hap-
piness, in usefulness. All have capabilities which they must be taught
to regard as sacred endowments, to appreciate as the Lord’s gifts, and
rightly to employ. He desires the youth to cultivate every power of their
being, and to bring every faculty into active exercise. He desires them
to enjoy all that is useful and precious in this life, to be good and to do
good, laying up a heavenly treasure for the future life.
It should be their ambition to excel in all things that are unselfish,
high, and noble. Let them look to Christ as the pattern after which they
are to be fashioned. The holy ambition that He revealed in His life they
are to cherish—an ambition to make the world better for their having
lived in it. This is the work to which they are called.
Only one lease of life is granted us; and the inquiry with everyone
should be, How can I invest my life so that it will yield the greatest
profit? How can I do most for the glory of God and the benefit of my
fellow men?
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