WAITING IN READINESS.

"Let your loins also be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord."Luke, xii. 35, 36.

GOOD is it thus to wait;

And joy shall be to them assign'd, Whose hearts in such prepar'd estate, Their Lord shall haply find.

With lights that shine and burn,

Girded in spirit, void of fear,

These shall their Lord's approach discern,
Rejoicing He is near.

Wisdom nor strength of ours

Can thus enable us to stand;

O Lord, thy grace alone

empowers

To keep thy high command.

Thy Spirit's aid must gird

Our loins for thy approach divine;

Our lamps with oil, by Thee conferr'd,
Alone can burn or shine.

Then grant thy heavenly aid,

That, when thy presence we must meet, With rev'rent hearts, but undismay'd, Thy coming we may greet.

CALLED, BUT NOT CHOSEN.

"For I say unto you, that none of these men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."-Luke, xiv. 24.

"PRECEPT on precept, line on line," The gospel's hallow'd page imparts, Fraught with intelligence divine

To humble and obedient hearts.

Teaching, not only that the call

Of love divine hath been made known,

Appealing tenderly to all,

Whether, or not, its voice they own;

But proving, truth beyond all price,
If wisely learnt, and timely weigh'd,
Even that call will not suffice,

Unless by man it be obeyed.

Are there not those who oft have heard
This call their waken'd hearts within,
Who still obedience have deferr'd,-
Wedded to earth-enslav'd by sin?

Before it be too late, O Lord!

Plead with us, though in judgment-plead, That self and sin must be abhorr'd,

Ere at thy table we can feed.

Show that it can avail us nought,
But must our condemnation be,

To have been call'd, yet thereby brought
No nearer unto heaven and Thee.

Bring home the mournful language us'd
Here of each disobedient guest,
Who, call'd, yet pray'd to be excus'd,
And, bidden, yet remain'd unblest.

A WORD OF CAUTION.

"Remember Lot's wife."- Luke, xvii. 32.

HERE, he who runs may plainly read,

How little can a call avail;

How easy is it to proceed

Some steps aright, and yet to fail.

How was she call'd! nay, led perforce By guides commission'd from on high; Who pointed out her onward course, Commanding her for life to fly.

To fly, nor once look back to trace
The righteous vengeance of the Lord,
Which, on the accurs'd and guilty place,
Destruction's fiery flood out-pour'd.

Thou who hast heard a voice within,
Bidding thee fly, nor look behind;
If tempted to look back on sin,
Bear this example in thy mind.

When but allur'd in thought to dwell

On scenes thought should indulge no more, Recall the doom on her which fell,

And loathe what thou hast lov'd before.

Remember, for the glance she turn'd
To sin's abode from safety's path;
God, whose commandment she had spurn'd,
Made her a monument of wrath.

TO EACH HIS DUE.

"Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's, and unto God the things which be God's."-Luke, xx. 25.

HAST thou unto superiors paid

The honour justly due?

To those in thy own sphere display'd

Love cordial, prompt, and true?