* * * * *
William Down was one of our young converts. He united with the church,
and appeared well; but I pitied the poor fellow when I thought of his
going back to the shipyard to work among a gang of godless associates.
Will he maintain his stand? I thought. It is so easy to slip back in
religion--easier to go back two steps than advance one. Ah, well, we
said, we must trust William to his conscience and his Saviour. Two years
passed, and instead of William's losing ground, his piety grew brighter
and stronger. Others fell away, but not he, and no boy perhaps was
placed in more unfavorable circumstances. Talking with William one
evening, I discovered one secret of his steadfastness.
"I never, sir, on any account let a single morning pass without secret
prayer and the reading of God's word. If I have a good deal to do, I
rise an hour earlier. I think over my weak points and try to get God's
grace to fortify me just there."
Mark this. Prayer is armor for the battle of life. If you give up your
morning petitions, you will suffer for it; temptation is before you, and
you are not fit to meet it; there is a guilty feeling in the soul, and
you keep at a distance from Christ.
Be sure the hour of prayer broken in upon by sleepiness can never be
made up. Make it a principle, young Christian, to begin the day by
watching unto prayer. "The morning hour has gold in its mouth;" aye, and
something better than gold--heavenly gain.
[Illustration: _The Early Morning Reading_]
[Illustration: "_Why don't you take that fellow in hand_."]