_Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke xiv. 27._ There is always the shadow of the cross resting upon the Christian's path. Is that a reason why you should avoid or not undertake the duty? Have you made up your mind that you will follow your Master everywhere else, save when he ascends the path that leads to the cross? Is that your religion? The sooner you change it, the better. The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is the religion of the cross, and unless we take up our cross, we can never follow Him.--_W. Hay Aitken._ =June 21st.= _These . . . have turned the world upside down. Acts xvii. 6._ The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the might of God.--_Pascal._ =June 22nd.= _What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. John xiii. 7._ God keeps a school for His children here on earth and one of His best teachers is Disappointment. My friend, when you and I reach our Father's house, we shall look back and see that the sharp-voiced, rough; visaged teacher, Disappointment, was one of the best guides to train us for it. He gave us hard lessons; he often used the rod; he often led us into thorny paths; he sometimes stripped off a load of luxuries; but that only made us travel the freer and the faster on our heavenward way. He sometimes led us down into the valley of the death-shadow; but never did the promises read so sweetly as when spelled out by the eye of faith in that very valley. Nowhere did he lead us so often, or teach us such sacred lessons, as at the cross of Christ. Dear, old, rough-handed teacher! We will build a monument to thee yet, and crown it with garlands, and inscribe on it: _Blessed be the memory of Disappointment!_--_Theodore Cuyler._ =June 23rd.= _As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deut. xxxiii. 25._ _I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phil. iv. 13._ He will not impose upon you one needless burden. He will not exact more than He knows your strength will bear. He will ask no Peter to come to Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support on the unstable waves. He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or to withdraw the stone if too heavy. But neither at the same time will He admit as an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your crime.--_Macduff._ =June 24th.= _Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Acts viii. 21._ The worst of all mockeries is a religion that leaves the heart unchanged: a religion that has _everything_ but the love of Christ enshrined in the soul.--_F. Whitfield._ =June 25th.= _The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts xiii. 2._