Time, then, is this precious treasure, which we shall never wholly lose till we pass out of this world for ever. Its golden sands are running rapidly away from us, but still some remain. The uncertainty how much of it is still left should make us put to the best use each instant as it passes. Who would not draw prudently from a chest in which his whole fortune was locked up, if its amount were unknown to him, if the next demand might exhaust it; and who would not put to the best use each penny that he drew? This is the instruction, the warning that the Apostle gives us in to-day's Epistle: "To walk circumspectly; not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time." Saving it--that is to say, not letting it slip by us idly and unprofitably; not only having it while it lasts, but receiving also the precious fruits with which it is laden. How much this caution is needed! How careless we are about this priceless possession which is ours from moment to moment! Some part of it indeed we are generally obliged to employ, and fortunate we are that it is so, in some occupation of profit to ourselves or to others. {460} Yes, fortunate; for that man must earn his bread by the toil of his body or mind is hardly after the fall a curse, but rather a blessing. Place fallen human nature in the paradise of our first parents, and its final loss could hardly be averted. But the rest: how often do we see, when work is over, that the only thought, even of Christians, is to get rid of this invaluable gift, the precious time which God has given them! They seem to have no thought but to lose themselves and it in some mere sensual pleasure, to fritter it away in gossip or some foolish and needless diversion, or to forget it and throw it away in slothful and unnecessary sleep. Brethren, some day we shall want all this time that we are now wasting. Then it will stand out before us in its true value; we shall see that it should have been redeemed, and that it is now irredeemable. And what is more, God, who gave it to us, will require an account of it at our hands. He gave it to us for an object; there is not a minute of it that he did not mean us to turn to good use. And we can carry out his purpose if we only will. Let us, then, beware of idleness; even our recreation and rest should be such that we can feel that he would approve of them, and that they will help us in our remaining hours to do the work that he has required and expects us to do. To kill time--let this be a word unheard among us; to kill time is to trample down the seed of eternal life and to invite death to our souls. ------------------- {461} _Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost._ Epistle. _Ephesians vi._ 10-17.