Newport weekly independent., 1904-01-22

gaining heaps on heaps of the shining metal in barter and trade, but it IS more than money, it is a sacred trust. Days should speak, but they should speak of something else than mad rush after wealth; they should speak of something else besides self-seeking anH indulgence in pleasures and all man ner of excesses. And days do speAk in condemnation and judgment Sto those who will hear them speak III ho other way The sowings of the~yes- terdays bring the inevitable Teapipgs of the to-days. But the days slip so swiftly by that we are hardly conscious of then passage, and the year is gone
 before we realize it, ysand we have scarcely heard whispered message from the days as they have flown by
 But while the Old Year is dying, and the New Year is about to be born, there stop and listen and think ere he steps into the days of the New Year 1t is time of retrospection and prOspection. It is, as the business man would say time of taking stock and planning new business; a closing up of the old set of books and the opening of new ones. Expenditures and receipts are carefully fig~red out, and the profits ascertained. And man who has been intrusted by God with 365 precious days, and which he has spent one after another, thoughtlessly or thoughtfully, godlessly or righteously, selfishly or in kindly service for others ought to take an accounting at the end of the year. Expended 365 days, given crisp and fresh, like new bank notes, from the hand of God Receipts: What? Profits: What? Days should speak, and what should be their message?
 MAYS should speak of human limita- D tions and uncertainties, and of God and eternity. There is an awful lack of the consciousness of God and eternity in the world. People spend their days as though they were to be without end; they plan with little thought of the limitations and uncertainties which l bound those plans. It is positively pathetic to see the bold assurance with
 which man passes through this life. He lives and feels and acts as though he were a fixture, when he is but "as grass 1 and as flower of the field, so he four isheth; for the wind passeth over it. and it Is gone; and the place thereof shall
 know it no more" But, on the other
 hand, the Lord is the same yesterday. to-day and forever" and His mercy is
 from everlasting to everlasting upon
 them that fear Him." and again in l.
 Peter 1925, after declaring that "al flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the apostle goes on to proclaim that 'the Word of the
 Lord endureth forever" Mans days
 are numbered, eternity is without end;
 Mans plans and devices fail, but God s plans and purposes are as certain of Iiconsummation as that day follows night. What day during the year which is just drawing to a close that has not felt the
 tread Of the silent reaper Death? It is said that with every tick of the watch
 human life goes out somewhere in the
 world. While we are in life we are in
 
 ances, loved ones have fallen about us on every hand. As we look back over the year, the sad days when the hand of death has robbed us of those whom we loved and cherished and esteemed stand
 out prominently. And what message do they speak to us? Is 1t one only of per sonal loss and sorrow? If so. you have failed to hear it's most important mes sage to your soul. It would speak of death which is sooner or later to rob you of all that life now offers you, and it would point you to God who holds all you may be possessed of in eternity
 How much did he leave?" was asked concerning the wealthy man who had just died. He left it all," was the sage reply. And the all-important question is not what he left, but what did he have laid up in store on the other side? Did
 he have treasure in Heaven? Did he have Saviour Who was preparing a mansion for him in the Fathers House. after the earthly house of this tabernacle should be dissolved? Is it well with your soul, with my soul? is the question which the days filled with death ask as they pass
 DUT days speak not only of the un- D certainty of life and of God and eternity, but also of human failure and sin and selfishness. How fresh and clean and spotless the days come from the hand of God, and how stained and scared and marred they become as man fills out their record Search diligently among the days through which you have passed during the past year and see if you can find one day which is free from failure or mis. take. Most of the days are stained with sin of heart and life and the cleanest and best days of the year are not without their evidences of human weakness and failure Are we afraid to face them and hear them speak?