Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-01-21

The Eireside stan dard.


The Fireside Standard.
Every mans home 10 certain extenl
IL his own castle. lie can lift wha
standards he pcascs over his own fire
side. H. can cmphaticalIy say as die
Gods servant OF old, Let others do as
they will, but AS for me and my house
we shall serve the Lord" Or he can
open his own home to shelter and en-
terrain evil temptations Of all sorts.
But LET no man think II he surrendcrs
his house to evil practices and yields
himself and hs home to the scduct1ons
of the world mat he can at the same
time live n spiritual life. nor can he
expect that those around him. who are
bound to him by ties Of bloc and love.
will lead spiritual lives. lie must. If
he would live right, not only conse-
crate his own life every morning to
God. but In The presence OF his chill
dren he must offer petition to God
for them 10 consecrate their lives 70
Christ also.
SO completely do I believe the true
spiritual life to be dependent in many
ways upon the family altar that l
would have the fathers and mothers,
rs soon as possible, teach their little
children to publicly pray Mt family
worship and to publicly ask the bless
ing at the daily meals. l remember,
many years ago when travelling in
Scotland. noticing how general was the
custom for the youngest child of the
household who could utter the words
being called upon to ask the blessing
Mt the family meal. thought then, az
I think nov. that it was an excellent
practice, tending TO accustom the child
from its earliest years to acknowledge
the goodness Of God and to address
him in prayer AS soon as my chill
dren were born I made up my mind !
would teach them when very young to
ask the blessing in public and to pub,
lcly pray al the family altar. would
teach them when very young, so that
they should never be ashamed to lift
their voices In petition to God, no mat
tor where they might be. And in
their young lips praying at family
worship I have found my own spir-
itual life rs n river widening and deep
ening in strength every year.
In T,uch With Christ.
Thus, no matter which way we may
look at the Pauline word "quench." the
whole trend OF the matter is this AS
Christians We cannot live n true spirit
ual life unless every moment Of every
day We arc in touch with Christ. We
cannot preach to others unless by
searching Gods word We hear Christ
preaching "a us. We cannot pray for
others in public review unless we have
had much hncc d'ill in secret prayer.
We cannot g,vc ourselves wholly to
Gods service unloss nj the same time
It the family altar we give orr loved
mes also e him. Are We ready to
"ome into touch with all these spiritual
sources of power? BY coming in touch
with Chrst's llfe shall We have the
Spirits Hamo lcnn ard glow and re-
slstlcs1'y move on and scatter and con
sumo our sins and orr brothers sins,
even as the prairie fire makes serpent,
buffalo and deer fec for their lives.
In wclcomire- tho church members
to Christ's altar | have but ono NOR"
question TO ask and to answer. In
what, o struggling friend, docs the
chief definition If being a Christian
consist? Ought you 20 say, Il want
10 a Christian to escape the evil effect
nf SIM Il want 10 he q Christian /
he hanrr:" II want to be a Christian
in order that ! may reach hoavcn;'
oh, no. You should want to be q
Christian, not for Your own boatiticH
tion. but in order that God may y
glorifiod In orler to glorify God w
should work for him. In order to
clorify God we should give TO him Of
our temporal Substance. In order tc
clorify God 80 should pray TO him
We should read the Riblc that we car
further find ont how Christ may cor
Inur to he clorihcd. May our live
be Nllcd with holy zeal for the glorifica
lion Of the blessed Saviour on earth
and in heaven. | congratulate you II
this the supreme moment Of your life
wien you start in the service of Jesu;
Christ. Christian brother, give me-
thy hand.
Copyright, 1904, by Louis Klopsch.1