THE FAMILY ALTAR
September 21.
"Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" Luke 17:17.
Our Savior had listened to the agonizing cry of the ten lepers :
"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," and had cleansed them from
their awful malady. But only one of them, when he saw that he
was healed, returned to the Savior, and thanked Him. The other
nine in base ingratitude forgot the Lord that had shown them such
great mercy, forgot that they owed Him gratitude. "Where are
the nine?" Still to-day our Savior must raise that mournful
question. "Where are the nine?" You will find them among so
many of our confirmed children, who, after scarcely renewing their
baptismal vow and pledging fidelity to their Savior even unto death,
shamefully forget their Lord, His saving Word, His blessed fellow-
ship, and instead fellowship the wicked world, and often bring down
the gray hairs of their pious parents with sorrow to the grave.
"Where are the nine ?" You will find them among the adult mem-
bers of our churches, who give themselves to the service of Mammon, live in open enmity with their neighbors, and are dead, unfruitful trees in other respects. "Where are the nine?" You will find
them among so many former sick and invalid persons, who in their
days of suffering called so piteously on the Lord for help and
solemnly promised to amend their sinful lives. But when the
Lord had heard them and restored them to health or saved them
from other dangers, then, like the nine ungrateful lepers, they
forgot their kind Savior, forgot their sacred vows, and forthwith
went back to their old evil ways and habits. Oh, how fickle, how
depraved is human nature ! Jesus in His great mercy has cleansed
us all from the deadly leprosy of sin and daily saves and protects
us from great harm and danger. May we always be found among
those who gratefully own Him as their Lord and" Master and pay
their vows of faithful love to Him. "Whoso offereth praise glori-
fieth Me." (Ps. 50,23.)
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Unite my thankful heart to Thee,
And reign without a rival there.
Thine wholly, Thine alone I am;
Be Thou alone my constant flame.
Oh, grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone!
Oh, may Thy love possess me whole,
My Joy, my Treasure, and my Crown !
Strange flames far from my heart remove;
My every act, word, thought be love!
