Evening star., 1907-10-19
Christian Endeavor Hour


i Conducted by Grace Livingston HillLutz.
/ Sunday, October 90 1907
! Topic: The Duties of the Day" Proverbs,
| xiv 3034 Romans, xii II.
| Proverbs XIV:
90. l went by the field of the slothful
and by the vineyard of the man void of
understanding;
81. And. 10, it was all grown over with
thorns, and nettles had covered the face
thereof, and the stone wall thereof was
broken down.
| 81. Then l saw, and considered it vel:
l looked upon 1t, and received instruction.
IS. Yet little sleep little slumber, a
little folding Of the hands to sleep:
"a So shall thy poverty come as one that
traveleth; and thy want as an armed
man.
| Romans, KILL Not slothful in business;
fervent In spirit; serving the Lord.
There are a good many slothful Chris
tians, who lie back upon their Chrstiani
ty as an excuse for their slothfuness. 1t
Is easier to them to go to a missionary
tea than to stay at home and teach a
fretful child how to behave. 1t is easier
to dress up and Nuke church calls than
to prepare an inviting supper for the
people at home. 1t is much easier to trim
the chapel for a Christian Endeavor So
clal than to wash the sticky pots and
pans in the kitchen and keep the house
| Immediately sweet and clean: and so
days go by and each days work in the
household Is sighted so often that If such
a person should attempt to bring matters
up to the right standard she would find a
years work ahead To get straightened ont.
1t is not that these Christians should not
do church work. but that they should be
| Conscientious about the little daily home
iy tasks, before leaving them for more
Icongenial tasks. The homely tasks may
to tr;1- but IL,
they require care and thought as much as
work that seems larger. Not for nothing
has He placed us in our homes and He
means US to make them little foretastes of
heaven by the care and pains we take
about them. Neither are we to neglect
the church work because We are careful
about the homely tasks, for diligence in
business and fervency in spirit" are hand
in hand with serving the Lord
| Did 1t ever occur to You as a member
of the Christian Endeavor Society. that If
any one passed by the field or the vine
yard of the committee that has been given
| into your charge they might find YOU a
| ''slothful man?' You say you are not the
chairman of that committee. Very we'll. but
you are me mber. and even If your chair
man has not done his duty and called you
| to a meeting and assigned you some work
you at least know what the duties Of that
| committee are. Are you performing them
conscientiOusly, or because none of the
other members do any better are you
lying back and waiting, content to let the
weeds grow up where you were meant to
| plant flowers? You are on the social COM
mittee. we will say. Well if you have no
| special duties in connection with socials
you can at least be cordial to all the mem
bers at the close Of the NEE ting, and you
can visit. and invite. and call for strangers
and YOU can welcome them when they
come If you have not done these things
| then In Gods eyes your vineyard is full
of the thistles of neglected duty. Or
perhaps you are member Of the prayer
| meeting committee. Do you make It
your duty to pray for that meeting for at
| least five ten minutes a week, and to
kneel and pray for it Just before you
| leave home to go to the meeting? Are
you always there to count one" If moth
| ing else? Do YOU see that every one has
a hymn book? Do you help the leader by
| taking hold in whatever line he suggests
even though 1t is not always what you
have intended? And SO on in every COM
mittee there is not a spot where you can
| be placed that you cannot make the place
| bloom with little duties happily perform
| ed. or fill 1t with a wild growth Of thistIes
And oh. the broken down walls of resolves, !,
| If you look back over the New Years
| when YOU have turned over new leaves,
you will be able to see how your walls"
have been broken down in broken re-
| solves.
| But the duties of the day after all are
| many Oh Inem not connected OutWarQly
in any way with our religion. They have
| to do with pairing potatoes and making
| bread, with counting out eggs, and
weighing sugar and -four, or measuring
cloth; with toiling IN the mill. the factory,
| the store the office. the kitchen or the
| schoolroom. Sometimes our sick and
| weary hearts. burdened with hard work
and care, long to lay these hateful duties
by and put our minds upon higher more
heavenly things. and we do not know that
81 6of,N H01S
and pleasing Him. as much as many serv-
! ices which we call higher. 1t is the
patient soul who tolls uncomplainingly
with a smile of patience. and does every
| thing in the very best way that 1t can be
done. who wears the saints crown. and
about whom the angels hover with de-
light.
Applied Truth.
IF I were eager to secure a good en-
ploye for a responsible position, should
not attach much Importance to the way in
which the candidate acted on set occa-
sion. when he knew that he was being
observed. OF course. he would be on his
best behavior. But give me a private
window so that / can watch him in his
least considered actions-how he be-
haves at home. how he treats his mother
and sisters: how he fulfils the common
duties of life. What he is then, he is
really. But If this is mans way may 1t
not be Gods? There are great tasks to be
fulfilled in eternity: angels to be judged
cities to be ruled. perhaps worlds to be
evangelical. For these. suitable agents
will be required. those who can rule be-
cause they have served. those who can
command because they have obeyed, those
who can save others because they have
saved themselves Perhaps, even now
our Heavenly Father is engaged in seeking
those among us who can fill these posts
And He is seeking them not among
such as are filling high positions in the
eyes of men. but in the ranks of such as
are treading the trivial round and fulfill
ing the common task. If. my brother
you could have reached your truest man
! hood emperor or a reformer, as a
millionaire or a martyr, you would have
been born into one OF those positions;
but since you are only q servant q bank