So.

proportions. Strong convictions may be entertained; conscious Christian life may be possessed; but without a definite aim in Christian service the worker is still inefficiently equipped. Aim in Christian service is the concentration of the mind on some definite religious result. Activity, tact, sacrifice, sometimes slavery, and even attractiveness, all that is in the best sense implied in progressiveness-will probably be required to produce the result, but a definite aim in the Lord's work is indispensable to efficiency. Apollo, it is said, always shot his arrow in the center. Why? Because he aimed at it. Locksley split the willow wand and watched the arrow of Hubert. Why? Because he aimed at doing Emerson said, "Hitch your wagon to a star," i. e., aim high. The worker with a definite aim and an high one is invincible, but those without it are failures. Those who aim at nothing and shoot at it, are almost certain to hit it. Miners who seek for nothing in particular may find treasure, but it is not likely. The ship steered for nowhere is more likely to strand on the rocks than reach the harbor. Christ's servants are marksmen who should aim to hit souls with truth in love; gold seekers, who should bring jewels of humanity to their rightful owner, Jesus Christ; pilots who should guide souls safely over the ocean of life into the haven of eternal rest. Our aim should not be lower than the transformation of lives into the likeness of the man Christ Jesus. Unless we accomplish this our service is a failure when tried by the truest standard. We are shepherds seeking the lost sheep, and feeding the heavenly shepherd's lambs. The question is not, how far have they wandered or how near have they been kept, but are the wandering ones found, are the lambs fed? We are physicians treating a world sore, sick and dying morally. The question is not, how skil

fully is the medicine administered, but are the lives of the patients saved? We are soldiers of Christ's cross. The question is not, how military-like is our deportment, but are we defeating the enemy and winning the land for our Lord?

It is not the plan of battle even, nor the armor we wear, but it is the shots which hit that tell most in Christian service. Therefore each should aim at the death of self, the salvation of society, and the transforming of the world into the paradise of God. Oh, the need of it! Evil still stalks abroad majestically like a ruthless monster in search of its prey. The Macedonian cry uttered from afar still rings in our ears. The battle against the faith once delivered to the saints is still waged fiercely. The struggle of eternal right against wrong is incessant. The shibboleth of the leisure classes to-day is doubt. The philosophy of many is a gospel of mud, and the god such worship is Mammon. And to all his servants the Captain of Salvation cries, "Be diligent, show thyself a workman approved of God." Possess conscious Christian life; be live men and women; have crystallized convictions on fundamental truth; have humble, prayerful, studious dispositions and a high aim in service.

At the battle of Vicksburg the contending armies strove fiercely for the advantageous position on a ridge; but for a long time the issue seemed doubtful. Fiercely each army strove to hoist its colors on the blood-bought height, until with a rush the Union soldiers swept off their enemy. However, when they sought to unfurl the stars and stripes over the conquered spot, the standard bearer was absent-he had fallen in the fight. They looked around and found him with his fast-ebbing strength still bearing up the flag. When his comrades reached him he smilingly said in a deathly whisper,

"Take it, boys! take it, boys! it has never touched the mud."

May we who bear this blood-stained banner of Christ's cross not only be equipped for this high and holy service, but when the battle of life is ended and we are called hence from the fray, may we in our dying breath be able to say to our comrades, our children and our church, "Take it, boys! take it, boys! it has never touched the mud."