Having given us life, he has crowned that life with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and has pointed out the way by which we may obtain everlasting blessedness. But let us look at its moral character. What is our life in reference to others? Is it exemplary? Is it convincing? Is it useful? Is it likely to make a good impression? What is our life in reference to ourselves? Is it holy or profane? Is it godly or ungodly? Is it becoming an immortal being, one who must live for ever? This view of the subject is not sufficiently attended to by many. Is it by us?

What is the importance of our life? Ah, who shall say? Who can describe, what language can set forth, the importance of our present life? It is the bud of being; the flower will not open on this side the grave. It is the youth of existence; we shall not be full-grown in this world. It is the seedtime of eternity; what is sown now will be reaped in a changeless state. It is the introduction to immortality. What then is its importance? Ask the dying sinner, whose eyes are just opened, whose soul is just awakened to the solemnities of the eternal world. What reply will he give? Look at his death-struck countenance, mark

the expression of his half-glazed eye, hear the accents of his tremulous voice; but he fails, he tries in vain to set forth the importance of the present life. He exclaims

Oh, that I had my time over again! Oh, that I had one year, but one month, one week, of the time I have squandered! But wishing is in vain. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved.' The importance of life I cannot describe. The value of time I can never declare." Ask the lost soul. The soul which, like the rich man, lifts up its eyes in hell, being in torments. Despair now rules over the immortal spirit. Agonies, beyond description, torture the never dying intellect. What is its estimate of the importance of life? But it would require a new language to describe, unearthly figures to illustrate, and a voice such as we have never heard, to set forth its estimate of the precious gift. Only in the depths of hell, or in the highest heavens, is the value of life really known. The glorified saint, while he tunes his golden harp, sings his never-dying song, and drinks in pure and celestial pleasure, can estimate, but not fully describe, the importance of this present life. Sinner, what is your life? Is it sin?

Time spent in opposing God? Time squandered upon folly? Time dreamed away to no useful purpose? Is it trifling? Oh, how many trifle away their precious time! They despise their own souls. They live as if existence were bounded by time, and all beyond were annihilation. Is it folly? How many live fools! They provide for the body; but they neglect the soul. They live for time; but they lose sight of eternity. The accepted time passes away unheeded. The day of salvation is spent in sin. They only lay a foundation for everlasting self-condemnation, and open in their own hearts a source of never ceasing agony. Believer, what is your life? Is it Christ? Can you say with Paul, "For me to live is Christ ?"" Does Christ live in you? Are you spiritually minded, and do you find it life and peace? Is it a wise preparation for eternity? Are you living now as you will wish you had lived byand-bye? Life is at best but short; let us improve it. Life is uncertain; let us make sure work for eternity. Life, if rightly viewed, is very solemn; let us spend it as intelligent and accountable creatures should. And when tempted to trifle, when inclined to squander away a day or an hour, let the

question influence our decision, "What is your life?" If it is brief, should it be spent thus? And let the Saviour's question be seriously considered by all who make gain the end of life,-"What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark viii. 36, 37.) Reader, the time is short, eternity is near, salvation is of infinite importance; let us therefore decide, and accept the Saviour's glorious invitation at once, and so shall we be saved for ever.

"Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footsteps on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to weit."

WHY WAS I BORN?

HIS is a simple question, and yet, perhaps, some have never proposed it to themselves; or, if they have, they have not sought for a satisfactory answer. We cannot think that we were born merely to eat, drink, work, laugh, suffer pain, and die. God created us for a noble end; we were born for important purposes. Let us notice a few things for which we were born.

How

First,-To display God's power. glorious must the power of God be, to conceive the thought, and produce such a noble creature as man. A being partly animal and partly spiritual. Allied to both worlds. Like Himself, and yet like His meaner creatures. It takes Omnipotence to make a man. And when God creates an intelligent creature, it is to display His power. We begin to be, but we shall never cease to be; for the power that made us at first, will sustain us in existence for ever. What a thought is this, I must live for ever and ever live to display the power of God.