with her wings, and shelters them from the cold. If they are in danger she I will defend them. She would sacrifice her own life before she would allow her young ones to suffer. Why? Because she loves them.

1. As the eagle loves her young, so God loves us. He made this beautiful world for our comfort and convenience. He gives us food to eat, and water to drink, and clothes to wear. He gives us comfortable homes, and kind friends. He gives us health and strength to enjoy all His other gifts. Day and night He takes care of us and defends us from danger, both when we are asleep and when we are awake.

Every blessing we enjoy

Comes to us from God.

All this proves that He loves us. But He has given us a greater manifestation of His love than His temporal gifts. He has given His Son to die for us and redeem us from eternal death. Do what we will, and go where we will, we cannot make God give over loving us. Him, and do wrong, He pities us and loves us. our wisest Friend.

His is love beyond a brother's,
Oh, how He loves!

Even when we sin against

He is our best, our truest,

You have sometimes seen a bird's nest when the young ones were not fledged. What helpless little creatures they are! They can neither walk, nor work, nor fly. But when the feathers are grown, and their limbs are strong enough, they leave the nest and begin to fly. Young eagles are not like most birds in this respect. When they are old enough to leave the nest they are lazy and sleepy. They do nothing but eat and sleep. They give the mother bird plenty of trouble. When she has fed them they shut their eyes and go to sleep again. If she screams and flutters over them and tries to rouse them, they are soon asleep again. God has given them wings, but they don't try to use them. They are heedless and careless.

2. So we are heedless and careless about God's calls to us. God has made

He has surrounded us with
We are so happy and con-

us very happy and comfortable in this world. good things, and put us in a very snug nest. tented in this world that we hardly ever think or care about heaven. We live as if we had not to die. We use this world as if we were to live in it for ever. God calls to us by His Word. He says, "My son, give me thy heart." We have given our heart to the world, and He claims it. We are loving the gifts instead of the Giver, and He appeals to us, "Lovest thou me?" There are times when we feel how strong are God's claims on us, but that feeling passes away, and we trifle and become heedless again. God calls by His Ministers. Our teachers, and preachers, and pious friends appeal to us to begin to live a better life, and love and serve God. We know it is right and reasonable to do so. We feel the truth of what they say, and yet we put it off to some future time. God calls by His Spirit. You have often felt a strong inclination to do right, and give God His due. It seemed as if somebody were whispering in your ears, "Come unto me." It was God Himself who was kindly speaking to your heart, and asking you to love Him. But you were heedless and careless. God calls by the voice of conscience. When you have acted wisely and done nobly, conscience says, "Well done." When you have played the coward and acted foolishly, conscience says, "For shame." If you listen to the voice of conscience it will warn you when you are in danger, approve of what is right, and enforce the claims of God upon you. God calls by His Sabbaths. Every Sabbath is a mile-stone on life's road—a resting-place on life's journey. As each Sabbath passes it reminds you that you are another week nearer the grave and eternity. You often think about these things, but they are unpleasant, so you banish them from your mind as quickly as possible. God calls by His Providence. Your playfellow dies, and you mourn for him. Your father and your mother die and leave you. These great trials affect you very deeply, but they are all sent to draw you to God and heaven.

Often all these calls are in vain. There are some who hear these calls again and again without heeding them. They continue to sin and have their own way till worse things overtake them.

When the eagle's calls are disobeyed, she "stirreth up her nest."

The young eagles must be roused and taught to fly. They cannot be allowed to lie sleeping in the nest for ever. The mother bird gets tired of screaming and fluttering over them, so she makes a bolder effort to rouse: them. She stands on the outside of the nest, takes a strong twig in her mouth, and shakes up the nest. The comfortable lining is displaced, the sharp thorns prick the sleepy eaglets, and the nest is made uncomfortable.

3. So God arouses and alarms us. He makes us uncomfortable in our sins. What are the thorns He puts into our nests? Bereavement is one of them. I knew a mother who had only one child. She loved it dearly. She thought a great deal more about it than about that kind, heavenly Father who gave it. She would make any sacrifice for her child. One day it was taken ill. It grew worse. It died. That mother's heart was nearly broken. She followed it to the grave, and, as the earth closed over it, and the stones rattled on its little coffin, she nearly fainted. They had to drag her away half dead. It was a sharp thorn-it pierced that mother's heart. She began to think, "Where is my child? It cannot be my little, laughing, loving child that lies in the cold grave yonder. That is only its body. Its soulitself is gone to heaven. It is with that Saviour who said, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."" So she began to think first about her child, then about heaven where her child was, and then about that good, kind Saviour who had taken it to a home far happier than she could make it. And by thinking a great deal about these things, she began to find no real happiness or peace in a world of sin. She began to love and serve God, and strive to meet her child in heaven. In this way God stirred up this woman's nest. He loosened her hold on this world, and drew her heart towards Himself.

Affliction is another of these thorns. I knew a young man who was very wild and wicked. He used to swear, and get drunk, and abuse everybody about him. He almost broke his mother's heart, and made his father very unhappy. He had companions, as wicked as himself, who encouraged