Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-01-14


time. who cannot be landed In jail, but
they are bigger nuisance to you than
II they stole the meat out of your ice
chest or the bread and cake from your
cupboards. All. these destroyers of
time! How many precious moments.
which In the aggregate have amounted
to precious days of work. have been
lost for us in the journey of life with
its vital opportunities. through their
unwelcome visits. Well wrote Oliver
Wendell Holmes in reference to such
as these:
Shun such as lounge through afternoons
and ewes
And on thy dial write. Beware OF
thieves"
Felon of minutes never taught to feel
The worth of treasures which thy fingers
steal:
Pick my left pocket of its silver dime
But spare the right-it holds my golden
time.
God says: Work, work, work! Work,
for the night cOmeth when no man can
work" That means we must fight
against those who would waste our
precious moments as well as against
our own slothful natures, and of all
warnings for busy men think this one
Of the most important. Where there Is
one busy man who would voluntarily
waste his time there are ten lazy fell
lows who are ready to waste II for him.
Look out that these despised "nomads"
may not ruin any more of your days Of
usefulness.
In heather mythology there lived a
god by the name of Baldur. His moth
er, Frigga. wanted to make him immor-
tai. She demanded from the stones. the
trees. from fire and water and all met
ais and reptiles and birds and poisons,
an oath that they never would kill him.
These all gave willing oath. Then the
gods. believing that Baldur was immor-
tai, began to strike him with swords,
spears, battleaxes and darts, but they
harmed him not. At last one of the
gods picked up piece of mistletoe.
He threw It at Baldur. The little twig
pierced the skin and the heart. and Bal
dur dropped a corpse. Many Of these
visits of the "destroyers of time" may
seem to be harmless. But are they :?
Like the despised mistletoe of heather
mythology, they may be fatal for whole
days, whole months and years, that
should have been used I'm service of the
Master.
Time Belongs tn God.
Would God we might one and all
fight relentlessly against these de
stroyers of time" You cannot afford to
give away what is not your own Your
time belongs not to you. but to another
go with me to concert this after
noon," said one salesman to another
who was employed in a large ware
house. II cannot go this afternoon"
was the answer. MY time Is not my
own; 1t belongs to another" ITO
whom? ITO my employer" The fol-
lowing Sabbath afternoon the same
salesman said to the same clerk, Come
and go riding with me this afternoon"
II cannot" said the other. My time Is
not my own; 1t belongs to another"
ITO whom?" ITO God. who said, Re
member the Sabbath day to keep 1t
holy" Will you and waste our pre-
cious moments hereafter? Shall we not
always feel that in reality time does
not belong to us? 1t belongs, in the
higher. nobler and purer sense, to them
whom we are sent to serve and to the
great God, who will demand at the
judgment an accounting for every mo-
ment we fritter away.
This thought flashed upon me as
sat upon the deck Of the steamship
Alameda, trying to figure out how l
lost that day. II instead of following
the setting sun l had been going to-
ward the east / would not have lost a
day, but gained an extra day; IL in
stead of going from New York to San
Francisco and New Zealand had been
travelling from London through the
Suez canal to Australia, instead of
having lost Thursday, 1 would have
had two Thursdays in one week. 1t
mattered nothing on our voyage which
course we took, but in the voyage Of
life it matters a great deal. They who
take the star in the east" as their
guide In the journey of life. who fol-
low Christ. who are led by him, have
no lost days. In this life they have in
finite delights and in the end eternal
life.
In which direction are you sailing?
Are you going away from the haven Of
peace? Are you and l travelling away
from God? Are we following the ''set-
ting sum-" where we have our lost
days." or are we leading toward the
''star Of the east" where we shall
have our found daysY Are we sail
Ing from God at point where we shall
crash upon the rocks of sin, or are we
sailing toward the harbor of peace
where we shall meet all our dear ones
with Christ?
But perhaps. after all. the caption Of
my sermon is misleading one There
Is truly no lost day" in a mans life.
Every day is yet to be found day"
All days will be found days" ut the
judgment seat of Christ, where they
shall testify for our eternal salvation
or our eternal condemnation. May all
our days he DAVIS which shall be bless