one thing that is really worth anything to him--his soul. Sometimes the
lusts of the world drag down our heart's desire, and we have to confess
with shame to moments in our experience when we have not been at all
concerned with what became of our soul so long as the desire of the hour
was fulfilled or satisfied. We need to seek day by day that the masterful
and abiding desires of our heart may be set upon undying good, and that our
aspiration may never fold its wings and rest on anything lower than the
highest. This shall not make dreamers of us. It shall stand us in good
stead in the thick of the world. The man who gets 'the best of the bargain'
is always the man who is most honest; for the most precious thing that a
man stands to win or lose in any deal is the cleanness of his soul. The man
who gets the best of the argument is always the man who is most truthful;
for a quiet conscience is better than a silenced opponent. The man who gets
the best of life is the man who keeps the honour of his soul; for Jesus
said: 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his
own soul?'

So then, amid the manifold uncertainties of human life and the
ever-changing forms and complexions of human experience, one thing is
pledged beyond all doubt to every man who seeks the will of God and the
promise for the safeguarding of his soul. He may write this at the top of
every page in the book of life. He may take it for his light in dark days,
his comfort in sad days, his treasure in empty days. He may have it on his
lips in the hour of battle and in his heart in the day of disappointment.
He may meet his temptations with it, interpret his sufferings with it,
build his ideal with it. And it shall come to pass that he shall learn to
look with untroubled eyes upon the outward things of life, nor fear the
touch of its thousand grasping hands, knowing that his soul is in the hands
of One who can keep it safe in all the world's despite, even God Himself.