Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-10
Christian Endeavor Hour
Conducted by Grace Livingston HillLutz.
For Sunday, August IL, 1907.

| For Sunday, August IL, 1907.
Topic The Teachings c1s ,9ss of the Trees" Psalm
Psalm civic. The trees of the Lord are
| full of sap the cellars of Lebanon, which
he hath planted:
II. Where the birds make their nests; as
for the stork, the fir trees are her house
| IS. The high hills are a refuge for the
| wild goats; and the rocks for the comics.
PsalmI: Blessed is the man that walketh
| not in the counsel of the ungodly nor
! standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth
| in the seat of the scornful
! 2. But his delight is in the law of the
Lord; and in his law doth he mediate day
! and night.
3. And he shall be like tree planted by
| the rivers of water, that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall
not Wlther; and Whatsoever he doeth shall
! prosper
4. The ungodly are not SO: but are like
the chaff which the wind driveth away.
| 8. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand
| in the Judgment. nor sinners in the con-
! gregation of the righteous.
| q. For the Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall
| perish.
| The Lesson.
| Alexander Maclaren, in speaking on this
subject, says: The trees of Jehovah are
| SO called, not much because they are
! great, as because, unlike vines and olives,
| they have not been planted or tended by
| man, nor belong to him. Far above the
| valleys, where men and cattle dependent
| on him live on earths cultivated bounties
the unowned woods stand and drink Gods
| gift of rain, while wild creatures lead free
| lives amid mountains and rocks"
Sometimes the cultivation of our modern
civilization tends to dwarf growth in Chris
tfan life, just the poor city trees, sur
| rounded by blazing asphalt and towering
stone and brick blocks, look dwarfed and
stunted, dry and whitening amid the city's
whirl. Poor trees! We sometimes look
pltifully at them as We whirl by in troll
ley car. Their leaves are dusty and they
look thirstily up to the high bright sky SO
far away and seem to fairly pant for the
days when these paved streets that hem
them in and choke them were grassy lanes
where the cows trod. Strange, artificial
trees they almost seem to be. and some
are swathed around with wads of sticky
cotton or fly paper in vain attempt to keep
the caterpillars from eating them up. Many
Of the modern city Christians remind one
of these trees. You would never think
of spirituality flowing through them any
more than you would think of sap in
abundance flowing through the poor dusty
city trees Some amount of sap they must
have. of course, to keep them alive at all.
but that they are fun of it''-bursting to
the leafy ends of each tiny twig-one never
feels. You do not feel a rich flow of
abundant life in their veins any more than
you would expect to find deep, abiding
nal Christians.
Then there is another thought. If We are
the trees of the Lord and full of sap"
filled with a rich flow of Christ-life reach
ing to the very ends of our being, we shall
be the abiding place for Gods little ones,
the shelter for the weak and sad, TIE
refuge for all needy. Whoever saw a rich
green tree with abundant foliage and
branches we'll grown and spreading that
refused nesting place to one of His spar
rows? Yet often and often Gods professed
children refuse comfort and resting and
pleasuring which 1t is in their hands to
give if they will to some little soul of whom
it is said Shall He not much more care?'
Have you ever seen tree covering under
number of other taller trees, dwarfed
and Stunted by their greatness, hidden
from the precious sunlight and the pre-
cious rain, dying at last from lack of nour-
ishment? If they had been out in the free
air and sunlight they might have grown
into great trees also. Some Christians al |
low themselves to be completely overgrown
by other people. They stand forever in the
shade of their greatness and seem to think
II is OF no use to try to do anything The |
tree stands and does the best 1t can, and |
smiles back to the few drops of rain and
the CLINT of sunlight that come it's way |
and does the very best it can in the place |
where God has put It, Even very little |
sunlight it takes gladly and makes the |
most of it, Can you not, with Christs help
do the same?
very dark place under a piazza perhaps
where a seed has been dropped, but the
vine knows well the secret Of life Is in get |
ting to the sunlight quickly, and so 1t will |
grow long length in the dark with white
sickly fingers reaching out to a crack or
crevice until 1t reaches the great out-of-
doors and climbs into the light. glad and
free. Pull that vine out some day and you
will find the part that grew in the dark
is frail and white, but so soon as it reached |
the daylight 1t grew green and vigorous.
no BRIG ans vita fnro 10 til
ing up to the Sun Of righteousness If
your life is dark and your soul Is fairly |
gasping for breath get quickly into the
light Of Jesus. 1t is only by constantly
turning your face to His light that you can
have life.
hundreds of telegraph poles were blown
down, but not single tree God has
planted his trees with roots far reaching
and graphing down deep into the earth
So the souls that are rooted in Him can
withstand the storms of life better than
those that have no such roofing and ground
ing in the eternal
Some naturalist has estimated that one
great tree entertains more guests of various
kinds than the Waldorf-Astoria and that
without money and without price.
When the larches were introduced into
England from southern Europe the garden
ers took 1t for granted that they needed
warmth to cause them to grow; SO they
were placed in the hothouSeS, and at once
began to wither and droop The gardeners
became disguised and threw them out-of-
doors. They at once began to grow and
became trees OF great beauty. So II Oft
times becomes necessary for Christ to throw
| us out-of-doors into the cod of reyerses
disappointments, sorrow and pain that
our Christian characters may be developed"
&c. w. Bib.
| Applied Truth.
/ IN he iS