_IN THE DAYS OF YOUTH_
ECCLESIASTES xii. 1-7.
In my university days at Edinburgh there was a young medical student named
Macfarlane. He was one of our finest athletes, and everybody liked him.
One day he was stricken with typhoid, which proved fatal. Macfarlane in
his days of boisterous health had neglected his Lord, and when one of his
friends, visiting him in his sickness, led his thoughts to the Saviour, he
turned and said, "But wouldn't it be a shabby thing to turn to Christ
now?" "Yes," replied his friend, "it will be a shabby thing, but it will
be shabbier not to turn to Him at all!" And I believe that poor Macfarlane
turned his shame-filled soul to the Lord.
But it is shabby to offer our Lord the mere dregs in life's cup. It is
shabby to offer Him the mere hull of the boat when the storms of passion
have carried its serviceableness away. Let me offer Him my best, my finest
equipment, my youth! Let me offer Him the best, and give Him the helm when
I am just setting sail and life abounds in golden promise! "Remember now
thy Creator in the days of thy youth."