[Illustration: "He shall gather the lambs with his arms and carry them
in his bosom."]

The Christian has a twofold life: he has both physical life and
spiritual life. As bread sustains physical life, so the word of God
sustains spiritual life. I beseech you most earnestly, my dear young
Christian reader, to ever remember that you can no more live a spiritual
life independently of the word of God than you can live a physical
life independently of bread. If growth in grace is worth anything to
you, and eternal blessedness in the sweet fields of heaven of any value,
keep this ever in mind and act accordingly. As with the physical being,
so it is with the spiritual. There must be appetite, eating, digestion,
and assimilation, that the word of God may impart life.

Remember, it is the sincere milk of the Word that you need that you may
grow thereby. Sincere is from the Latin _sincerus_, which is derived
from _sine_, meaning without, and _cera_, meaning wax; honey separated
from the wax. Milk to which has been added chalked water may yet have
much the appearance of milk, but it has lost its nourishment. So the
word of God with the slightest adulteration will not meet the demands
for spiritual growth. The word of God, without modification or
exaggeration, without taking from or adding to, is the only wholesome
food for your soul, and may you "eat in plenty" and "grow up as calves
of the stall."




ON FRUIT BEARING.