-"run with patience" yet with devotedness in His service. Then shall I run, for I shall be drawn, and Christ alone be the goal after which I am pressing. "After Thee!" Saviour, may this be the motto of writer and reader-the superscription over every act of life which all may read and understand! "After Thee!" for "whom have we in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that we desire in comparison of Thee." "After Thee!" for in that path is light, life, joy, and gladness,-yea, heaven itself. "Draw me," Saviour,

and "we will run after Thee."

"All gone, all gone, for this life gone,
My days of health and strength;
Wearied and worthless, glad were I
To welcome home at length:
And yet, I'm happier far in truth
Than e'er I was in buoyant youth;

For, Jesus, Thou art more to me

Than health and strength and youth could be.

All gone, all gone, for this life gone,

Dear hopes most fondly nursed ;
They glittered long around my path,
Till each bright bubble burst.

I wept; but oh! the blest despair

Has led me Heaven's own joys to share;

For, Jesus, Thou art more to me

Than Hope's fond dreams fulfilled could be.

All gone, all gone, for this life gone,

My soul's elastic spring;

Of vigour stript, I shrink aside

A crushed and useless thing:

Yet this is gain; for thus I prove

Far more His patient, pitying love;
And sweeter, safer this to me
Than self-reliant strength could be.

And going fast, while most are gone,
Loved friends of early days;

The world grows stranger year by year:

I lose, but not replace.

"Tis well! I'm cast the more on One;

Stars scarce are missed while shines the Sun;

And, Jesus, Thou art more to me

Than loved and loving hearts could be.

Dear Lord, I thankfully kiss the hand
That gently stripped me bare,

And laid me on Thy tender breast,

To lose my sorrow there :

'Twas anguish when earth's cup was spilled, But now with Thee 'tis overfilled;

For, Jesus, Thou art more to me

Than all earth's brimming cups could be.

What grace! to show a soul so vile
Thy more than mother's care,

And lead through wreck of earth's poor joys
Thy joys with Thee to share.

What grace! that Thou to such hast given
The foretaste now of feast in heaven;

The foretaste even now to me,

More than a thousand worlds could be."

"THAT I MAY WIN CHRIST.”

PHIL. iii. 8.

ST. PAUL was in the position of a nobleman here. "Of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee;" but all these things he "counted loss." He brushed them all away. Christ was the one object which eclipsed everything he had before counted gain. He had put those things most precious to him side by side with Christ, and said, "Let all go; here, in Christ, is my choice."

Can you, as St. Paul did, take the things you value most, and with true sincerity of heart, put them side by side with Christ, and count them all loss? This will determine whether you are a child of God or not. What place has Christ in your heart?

In the past, the present, and the future with St. Paul, it was all Christ. Can you say, as to the past, "I counted;" as to the present, "I count;" as to the future, "I press toward the mark." Here is the power for making you happy, for making you an earnest worker for God. "What things were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ; yea, doubt

less, and I count all things but loss. I press toward the mark."

What is Christ to you now? Can you say, "I still count, as I did at first." Is Christ to-day as precious to you as when you first started on your Christian course? So many Christians who found Christ very precious to them at first, as time goes on, allow other things to come in, and Christ ceases to hold the place He once held. St. Paul says, "I do count!" Can you say, "To this day and hour I count all things loss for Him?" Everything depends on this—your happiness, your power for working for Christ, for walking with God. With many Christians it is not thus. Christ is at the bottom, and a fair outward life at the top, but hundreds of other things between. See that Christ is, in your heart and in your life, what He was at the first. Not only "I counted," but "I do count."

"For whom I have suffered the loss of all things." What have you suffered for Christ ?-for your Christian testimony-your cleaving to, and living for Christ? The Lord makes up to us whatever we suffer for Him. He makes it up a thousandfold in the fulness of joy, the gladness, the peace, the calmness, the uplifting of soul.

Pressing to Christ; suffering for Christ; counting for Christ-these will be the channels through which God will pour into your soul such light and joy and gladness, such an uplifting power, that you will be able to run, to press, to reach forth. The

heart will go out more intensely than ever after Christ, for God will pour into your heart that which will make you more glad than you have ever been. Oh, prove God in this way! See what a flood of joy He can pour into your heart! Why are Christians not glad? Because Christ does not hold, and continue to hold, the right place in their hearts. Let Jesus hold that place which He is worthy to hold, and then you will be glad.

So it is with the
His temptations,

"I press toward the mark." Christian. He presses forward. and the things of the world, exert an influence to draw him back; yet, like the swimmer, he will sweep them all behind him, and every difficulty will be but as a force to move him on. He will press through all to Christ.

The end-to be like Christ. Lift up your head, Christian, your redemption draweth nigh! Only see that you are counting all things loss for Christ. See that you are suffering for Christ, pressing on to Christ. Then will you be found in Christ, and you will be like Him.

Onward! 'Tis the Captain's cry,
Christian, dost thou dare to stand,
Dare to rest while moments fly,
Dare to linger, staff in hand?

He who bought thee with His blood
He who made Thy sins His own,
Placed thee in the heavenward road
Every barrier overthrown —
Now He bids thee urge thy way
Onward! to eternal day.