An Inspired Recipe for Good Days.
By Rev. E. B. Sanford
The daughter of an Eastern rabbi heard an Assyrian cry in the streets of the city, saying, "Who will receive the elixir of life?" She ran to tell her father, and at his suggestion invited the man within their door. "What is that elixir of life that thou art selling?" inquired the rabbi. "Is it not written," answered the stranger, "'What man is he that desireth life and loveth days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile.' Lo, this is the elixir of life which is in the mouth of a man." The recipe from which the joy and gladness of good days is distilled is given more fully by an inspired writer (1 Peter 3: 10, 11). The secret of blessing and happiness that the hours give to us has its hiding-place in the heart, out of whose abundance the mouth speaketh. There is no honey in gall cells, and the fairest skies will not ripen sweet fruit from thistles. The spirit of our lives marks the quality of our days. If that be wrong, the beauty and sunshine of Eden avails nothing. If that be right, the desert place will bud and blossom as the rose, and the storm will pass unheeded because of the joy within; a divine sheltering whose inner warmth is all the more grateful by reason of the contrast to the chill and darkness without. The tongue but speaks what is in the heart, and the best guard that can be placed over it is that of a spirit without guile or evil intent. The feeling of envy stirs the depths of the heart with malice before the poisonous word is uttered that blisters the lips of him who speaks. Pride, jealousy, and the evils that spring from them, make the tongue a sluice way for those streams of influence that, lava-like, destroy every good thing that they touch. But the evil word spoken takes all the joy out of the day. It hides the shining of the sun, and makes the pleasant music of the world only a jangling of sweet sounds. It is the love that thinks the best possible things of others, rejoices in their prosperity, sympathizes with them in their adversity, and bears toward every one, and in all times and seasons, a face that hides no guile, that manifests a life out of which are born days whose clear shining reveals the upper skies smiling in peace upon the earth; where thorns and nettles are covered out of sight by the larger growth of fragrant blossoms and wholesome fruit. Life hid in Christ is heir to good days. It could not well be otherwise where experience matures the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, are elements of a sunny and cheerful happiness. Thunder-storms and cyclones cannot be evolved from them. Sweet waters flow from the fountains. Words of kindly interest and affection make the lips the source of happiness that lightens the burdens of care and toil. The fretful, repining spirit will find small lodgment in the home where the tongue is kept from evil, and the open countenance, with cheerful greeting, speaks of an indwelling peace that finds its chief joy in ministering to the welfare of other hearts. All days cannot be alike, but with the guidance of Him who is "the way, the truth, and the life," they may be good days. Even those most clouded outwardly will show the silver lining that betokens the light beyond that is undimmed. — Rev. E. B. Sanford.