No man can escape it. It is the only way to any kind of robustness and strength. Softness of life, yieldingness, avoiding whatever is hard or disagreeable or unpleasant, is certain failure. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Nothing in the world worth anything but involves a hard fight. Let us try to learn afresh the meaning of that apostolic experience given to us in the words: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” Choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Heb. 11:25. IX LIFE'S CHOICES It I wanted to speak to young men and young women this first Lord's Day evening of the year, while the year itself is still young. has only three hundred and sixty-five days to live, and it has lived already the odd five. The year is young and life with many of you is still young life. You have not had very much experience enough perhaps to have already a little bundle of disappointments stored away in the cabinet of memory. But the forward look is more to you than the backward look. Anticipation is more than reflection. How can we stimu The question comes up to us pastors, again and again, How can we help our young people? How can we be of service to them? How can we make life more to them and not less? late them to be that which each is capable of being? These are the questions which form themselves in our minds very often. How to answer them is difficult. The same answer will scarcely do for all cases, or for many cases. Some young folks are naturally aspiring, naturally good and noble, naturally amiable; others are natur ally the exact opposite of all these. The medicine which would cure the one, will kill the other. Hence words addressed to all at the same time will scarcely be applicable to all. And yet there is great value in public address. While it is drawing the bow at a venture the arrow is certain to hit someone. I believe it is generally true that ministers who are worth anything at all never speak so truly, so really what they think in their heart of hearts, as when in their pulpits. The sense of responsibility is keener there than it is elsewhere. I hope, therefore, that no young man or young woman will be inclined to say sarcastically: "Well, it is only a sermon!" and so go away and toss off what is suggested. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, 11:25, is this sentence, "Choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' These words were written by one great man about another. They refer to the choice Moses made. He had the chance to live a luxurious life in an Egyptian palace and Egypt then was one of the foremost civilizations of the world; but he refused to live that life and threw in his lot with his own beggared and enslaved people. All With the light that Moses had in his mind, it would have been a sin to him to do otherwise. that was best in him would have to be crucified and all that was worst would have gone to the front. Moses, as we now know him, would never have been heard of. He made his choice and all his life depended on it. What did he choose? He chose to be true to his best self, true to his people, true to |