Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-09-20

compact with God Ler me illustrate.
You come TO me and want TO buy
tract OF land for $4,000 say, "Mr.
Jones. why are you buying this land?"
oh" You answer. 81 am buying this
land for homestead where l can live
and my children can live after me,
generation after generation" "All
right" say, II can sell you the land.
but you will have to pay the taxes and
fulfill your obligations TO the county,
and your children will have TO do the
same when they inherit" You under
stand that. and | say: "Then in con-
sideration of $4,000 / will give you a
deed OF that land for yourself and your
heirs forever. That deed win seal the
bargain" Just so the descendants of
Abraham entered into covenant with
God They were under obligations of
which the rite was the visible sign.
But the rite counted for nothing If the
obligations were not fulfilled. The
later history of Abraham's descendants
proved that the real condition was ODE
dlence and that when this was not
rendered the outward sign was not ac-
cepted. 1t became mockery when it
no longer represented a change OF
heart.
My brother, do YOU wonder that Da-
vid said, Thy statutes have been my
songs when l was a baby in the era
ileT' Was not David consecrated to
God when he was a child by a godly
father and mother? VIII you not al
low Christ to take you and hold you
close to his loving heart because your
Christian mother gave you to him by
prayer and pledge when you were
little innocent child2 Thou divine Fa-
Their, by the sacred mounds of my IA
Tiers and mothers graves, 1 thank
thee that thou art and always wilt be
covenant making Christ and wilt
save me in answer TO the prayers OF
my loving parents for Christs sake.
The Songs of Childhood.
But the statutes were more than the
guardian angels which sang the songs
of the Nativity over the manger of
Bethlehem Of Judaea. They sang for.
David the happy songs of childhood
The statutes became songs of rejoic-
ing. They were the conditions of SON.
ship and Inheritance which 1t was
JOY to fulfill. They were the sweetest
recollections of the old homestead
when he was n growing boy. They
were the songs which made his father
and mother and brothers one at the
family altar. They were the songs
which taught him how to say his
evening prayers at his mothers knee.
They were the songs which made him
as child study the old Mosaic laws.
They were the songs by, which he was
corrected when be did wrong And
they were the'songs which taught him
| faith in God as well as faith in his
fellow men. In other words, they were
the same laws by which you and 1 as
| boys and girls were developed I'm a
Christian home for our life's struggle.
III you did not learn these statutes of
God when you were young, then you
are poor indeed. IL you did learn the
laws of God when you were young.
then the memory of them makes you
rich indeed
The happiness of our childhood days
was not dependent upon the size of our
fathers pocketbook. But TO a great
extent it was dependent upon whether
our parents obeyed and made us obey
the statutes of our Lord in the house
OF our pilgrimage. Some time ago a
Borrowing son was on the way back
TO the village of his boyhood TO bury
an aged parent. "How much was your
| father worth when he died?" asked one
OF his friends. Nothing: i think he
was worth less than nothing. / sup
pose shall have TO bury him" But
the day after the funeral the young
man was going down the village street
As he walked along he met an old man,
who held out his hand and said: God
bless you, my boy. Jim, you had n
good father. 1 knew him for over
forty years and 1 never knew him to
do one act which did not stamp him as
a noble, brave Christian hero" And a
little farther on young girl stopped
him and said: "Jim, your father was
the best friend my mother ever had.
When papa died he gathered in all our
harvests and has made 1t possible for
us TO live" A little farther on he
met another man, who said, Jim,
there Is not man, woman or child In
this whole region who has not been
brought nearer to God on account of
the noble life of your father" When
the young man turned his steps toward
the old home he said to himself:
well, my father did not have much
money. but he was rich. He lived rich
in Gods grace. and he died triumphant
In Gods love. and guess / have in
herited rs much good as any boy
could receive from any parent"
Sweet Memories of Home.
Tell me, friend. was not the religious
training Of your boyhood the sweet
EST memory you have OF the old home
stead? When Your parents were bring
ing you up you thought those statutes
OF God were awfully strict 1t did
seem at times as though Sunday would
never get through. When you got up
early in the morning there were the
new baseball and the fine bat mo, no."
said mother; 'you cannot use them
today. Better put them away in the
closet, and then you will be out of
temptation" And then when the 9TH
er boys were ready to go off fishing
you had to come back for family pray
ers. Then those long tramps with the
delicate food for the sick neighbors-it
did seem that mother was always
sending food TO some one. And then
those Bible stories you had TO learn
when Robinson Crusoe" and that new
book of Jules Verne were lying so
near-my, how you did grumble and
twist and fume and worryi And then
II seemed as though your father kept
regular hotel for all the ministers
VINO came to your town. Then your
rather would never LOT r-nn ,nIn,- on,..l,.