"So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned."—RUTH ii. 17.

IX parts of the

year are now gone. The first day of July brings us to the beginning of the second half-year. We have got to the halfway point in our journey round the circle of the twelve months.

In the six months that have now passed, you have had plenty of gleaning in the fields of knowledge. What have you to show for it?

Learn a lesson from Ruth. Through the day, she was busy gleaning. She gathered up ear by ear; some here, and some there. Yet little upon little mounts up. The reapers, too, as they bound their sheaves, let small handfuls fall on purpose for her; for so their master had ordered. Her handfuls soon became bundles, and her bundles became armfuls. But there were stalks and husks with the barley. Did she want these? No; "she beat out that she had gleaned." She took a small hand-flail, or perhaps a stick, and went on beating the ears till the pure barley was separated from the rest. Then she measured it, and found she had about an ephah, which would be some fifty of our pints, or something less than a bushel.

Now just mark this; she only weighed or measured what she had beaten out; not the large bundles she had picked up, but only the grain which she actually had to carry home with her. Measure your knowledge in the same way; not by the quantity you have learned, but by the quantity you have remembered and made

your own.

"Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people."-PSALM cvi. 4.

MAN

ANY of God's people have prayed a prayer like this. Hannah and Nehemiah, Jeremiah and David, all asked God to remember them. And the dying thief said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me."

This is a wish which only God's people have. The wicked do not wish God to remember them. They say in their hearts, "God hath forgotten;" for they try to persuade themselves that He does not see or notice their sins. They know that if He remembers them at all, He can only remember them for evil.

But God's children can come to Him as to a father, and can ask Him to remember them for good. We all know what a pleasant thing it is to be remembered by our friends, to be remembered with fond love, to be remembered with constant favour. God looks with favour on His people, and often gives them a proof that He has not forgotten them. He remembered the Israelites when they were in Egypt, and brought them safely out of it. He remembered them in the wilderness, and led them safely through it. He remembered them in Canaan, and made them to dwell safely there; and while they did His will, He daily loaded them with benefits.

Would you like to be remembered with the favour that God bears to His people? Then give yourself up to Him, that you may be His. And if you wish Him to remember you, see to it that do not forget Him. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."

you

"I go to prepare a place for you."-JOHN xiv. 2.

WH

HAT place did Jesus go to prepare for us? Heaven. Yes; but what is Heaven? It is a place of holiness and happiness, a place of beauty and blessedness. But we want to know more about it, and again we ask, 'What is it?' We ask in vain. Our friends on earth cannot say, for they do not know what heaven is. Eye hath not seen it. "Ear hath not heard its deep notes of joy." Our friends, who have gone to that better land, know what it is; but they cannot come back to tell.

The Bible, however, mentions a great many things that heaven is like. Some of us delight to think of it in one way, and some in another. One little girl used always to think of it as a happy garden; another used to talk of it as her best home; a third used to think most about the sea of glass, and the crowns of gold; while a fourth used to think of the harpers playing with their harps. There are some who delight to think of meeting their friends in heaven; and others who rejoice to think of being with the holy angels. There are some who like to think of heaven as a place of rest; others look forward to it as a service of love to the God of love;" and others expect it to be like a never-ending sabbath of joyful praise.

If we are God's children, we shall one day know what heaven is. In the mean time, it is enough for us that Christ has prepared it, and that therefore it is sure to be all that a holy heart could wish. He who once bore our nature, is sure to know what will make us happy.

"When He shall appear, we shall be like Him." 1 JOHN iii. 2.

THO

THOUGH we do not know where heaven is, nor what it is, we know two things which are enough to make us long for it. It is the place where we, who are Christ's, shall be with Christ and like Christ.

We shall be with Christ. We "shall see Him as He is." When He took leave of His disciples, He said to them, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." When He prayed for them, He said, "Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am." The Apostles lived in the hope of this; and in the hope of this they could welcome death. They did not speak, as we so often do, about 'going to heaven,' but about going to be with Jesus. They were "willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." They could say, "To depart, and to be with Christ, is far better." Let us learn to think of heaven as the place where Christ is.

We shall also be like Christ; like Him, because with Him. The text goes on, "We shall be like Him, FOR we shall see Him as He is." He has a glorious body, and our's will be changed into the likeness of His. He is full of grace and goodness, and our souls also will be changed into the same image. "We SHALL be like Him." We

e are not like Him yet. We sometimes sing the hymn, 'I want to be like Jesus.' Are we trying to be like Him? If we hope to bear His image there, we must begin to bear it here.