THE FAMILY ALTAR

July 29.

"My soul is continually in my hand; yet do I not forget

Thy Law." Ps. 119:109.

There is an old proverb which says so truly : Money lost.

little lost; for you can easily gain money again. Honor lost,

much lost; for it is much harder to regain your good name.

But if the soul is lost, all is lost ; for you can never, never regain

it if it has once perished. "What is a man profited if he shall

gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Xow, in our text

the Psalmist tells us that he is in daily danger of losing his soul,

and therefore he is so careful not to forget the Law of his God.

Alas, how many are so concerned about their soul's salvation as

the Psalmist was? So many think that their souls must and will

be saved because they have committed no great crime in their

life and have tried to do the best they could. Well, Dives and

his five brethren were, no doubt, good, honorable people, as the

common run of the world is, and yet their souls suffer in hell.

They were concerned all their life only about their temporal well-

being, but neglected to care for their immortal souls. Hence they

neglected to hear the warning voice of their God speaking to them

through Moses and the Prophets. The greater and costlier the

treasure, the more it needs to be watched and guarded. The

greatest and most costly treasure we have is our immortal soul.

But how many subtle enemies it has in the old Evil Foe, in the

laughing, unbelieving, enticing world, in the evil corruptions of

our own heart! Verily, the man is a miracle of grace who can

save his soul alive out of the wicked Sodom and Gomorrah of

this world. As God's grace alone can save us and our precious,

immortal souls, let us never neglect His means of grace, His Word

and Sacraments, and let us continue in prayer and in a Chris-

tian life.