Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-29

and eight seconds in a hide-and- seek
game from Old Testament to New and
back again, sampling here and there
the first half of the first verses, a sort
of butterfly method, to see whether
they would suit. And, when the right
and thirty-three seconds finishing It..
Bible Is Different
And that very afternoon he had
started a novel and began at Chapter
|, first word, and read right on, chap
ters ,, 3, without any skipping here
and there, so that he might get the
plot and the story
But then-the Bible is different.
ON Saturday nothing doing. Half
holiday, and Speedsell brought his
machine around after dinner for a
spin out TO the storemens picnic at
Candy Park. And that evening a
quiet dance at the Century Club caused
him to get home late, tired. wilted.
And the moonlight was so bright that
he could see the bed in the same old
place; and, not having forgotten the
way there, he tumbled in.
Feeds His Soul
And the Lord took care of him all
night long.
And Sunday-well, he agreed with
the photograph record, 20! it's very,
very nice to lie in bed on Sunday
morning" So from bed to bath to
breakfast. And because the day was
so quiet and peaceful and he had been
shut up all the week in the office, and
was so tired (from Saturday night
he stayed at'home all the morning, and
fed his soul on The Sunday Sledger,
reading some pious platitudes called a
sermon, by jeremiah Sacksnaps; and,
forgetting it was the Lords Day, he
read on and on and on-scandal base
ball, races, social simperings, stori-
cites, and what not. These all marched
by, column after column, till his brain
was doped and he fell asleep; and his
dreams were not half so hideous as the
comic supplement he had been enjoy
ing.
And, when the Sabbath was over. If
he had taken ruler and measured his
days reading, The Sunday Sledger
would have overtopped the Bible as
much as the Washington Monument
overtops a lead pencil out on the Mall.
What Is This Bible?
And what is this Bible? Why, it is
the only book that the Lord God ever
wrote for man. 1t is the only one in
spired by His Holy Spirit, and deals
with the most sublime truths of
heaven and earth. 1t is the only guide
book from this sin-cursed earth to the
lation of the bliss and joy and holiness
of the eternal city. 1t is the only liv-
ing message for the sinner and saint,
the only source of comfort and conso-
lation, the only inspired rule of faith
and conduct, the only book that tells
of the love of the Father and the sac
rifice of the Son, that CONVEYS pardon
and promises peace.
1t Is bread for the hungry and wa
ter for the thirsty, cheer for the dis
couraged, strength for the tempted
comfort for the sorrowing, hope for
the sinner, assurance for the saint It
is the cloud and pillar for the child
of God on his way to heaven.
And this young man who has ac-
cepted its Saviour as his Lord, and
who believes in its teachings, and
would fight for its integrity, who says
its price is far above rubies, that 1t
overtops all other books-yet this
young man, who says he believes in its
God, and loves its Saviour, and desires
to live by its precepts, reads it neither
regularly nor consecutively nor top
ically nor Systematically.
1t, gets the ends of tired DAYS and a
passing glance at odd moments. And
because the Lord is kind and long
suffering and generous the young man
lives, and Is strong, and enjoys many
blessings.
So, when his pastor dropped in Sab
bath afternoon on the way home from
Sunday School to consult about some
Christian Endeavor work. the Bible
was so ashamed Of its unused cover
and unthumbed pages that it was glad
to be hidden under Jim's tennis coat
carelessly thrown on the table.
PaXtang, Penna.