Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1917 — Read the Bible While You Can [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Read the Bible While You Can

By REV. HOWARD W. POPE

Moody Bible Institute, Chicago

TEXT—Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.—Eccles. 12:1. It was a w.se man who said, “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.” A striking illustration of the value of this advice ,came to our notice not? long ago. We were calling on a lady who had passed her eightieth birthday. She married a Christian man, and was

a regular church attendant for probably forty years. Indeed she sang in the choir for many years and heard only good Gospel preaching. She always enjoyed a good sermon and could give an excellent description of it to those who were not present. She was fond of attending Bible conferences and revival meetings, and entered heartily into the aim and spirit of such services. But she never formed any definite habit of Bible reading; indeed she was not a great reader of anything, except the daily papers. She liked to hear other people expound the Bible, but she would not, or at least did not, read it much for herself.

As old age 'came upon her, the. friends and relatives of early life naturally scattered and died. Her family was all gone, except a devoted daughter with whom she lived. However, all her needs were supplied, as well as the comforts of life. Lonely and Troubled. As her daughter was obliged to be away during the day, and she was living in a large city, she was naturally somewhat lonely, but loneliness was not her chief trouble. I found that she had no definite assurance of salvation. She was full of doubt and uncertainty as to the future. She knew the Gospel, but could not seem to grasp it. She prayed, but she had no assurance that God heard or answered her. »The Bible afforded her no comfort, for she hardly knew where to find the passages which she needed, and if another found them for her, they did not sound real and true to her ears, so dull of hearing. She had lost her Capacity to enjoy spiritual truth. She had neglected to store her mind with Bible truth while she was young, and now, when It should have been her daily comfort and chief joy, she had lost her capacity to enjoy it. Had she formed habits of Bible reading in youth as David did, she would now have been familiar with it, and David’s experience would have been hers, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Hers was an old age without a staff, ahd almost without a God. How sad is old age without a Saviour, earthly props failing, and no everlasting arm to lean on; forced to leave® this world with no hope of heaven 1 Old Age Beautified by Faith. How beautiful is old age when cheered by the presence of the blessed comforter! Grateful for the mercies of the past, it refuses to believe that anything is not a mercy which God permits. The future is full of hope, for we realize that more and more the earthly shall disappear out of our lives, and more and more the heavenly shall come in, until at last we shall “awake in his likeness” and be satisfied. Growing Old Happily. Far from the storms that are lashing the ocean. Nearer each day to the pleasant home light; Far from the waves that are big with commotion, Under full the harbor in sight. Growing old cheerfully Cheerful and bright. Past all the winds that were adverse and chilling. Past all the islands that lured thee to rest; Past all the currents that wooed thee unwilling Far from the port and the land of the blest. Growing old peacefully, Peaceful and blest. I ' ’ . ■ Rich in experience angels might covet, Rich in a faith that has grown with thy years; Rich in a love that grew from and above it, Soothing thy sorrows and hushing thy fears. Growing old richly, - Loving and dear. Eyes that grow dim to the earth and its glory See but the brighter the heavenly glow; Katm that are dull to the world and its story Drink In the songs that from Paradise flow. All the sweet recompense Youth cannot know.