One of the commonest mistakes of intelligent Christians is in the assumption that God necessarily desires them to have long life in his service on earth; that if they are honoring him by their earthly existence he will, as a matter of course, desire them to continue their lives here as long as possible. Yet, as a practical fact, we know that it is very often by the expenditure of one's vital force, rather than by its preservation, that God is honored, and that one's place is filled on earth. What would be thought of a soldier who should hesitate to lead a forlorn hope at the call of his commander, on the ground that, being a good soldier, he ought to live as long as possible, and run no risks of losing his valuable life? Would not the answer to this suggestion be that a soldier has chief value as a soldier in his very readiness to lay down his life as soon as its laying down could accomplish more than its retention? And is not every Christian to do service, and to endure hardness, and to be ready to run risks, as a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ? Of course, neither the one soldier nor the other has a right to throw away his life, his strength, his talents, or his time; but, on the other hand, he must not count it a sure premise in his reasoning process that he will necessarily be more useful if he lives than if he dies. Living is a very good business in its way; so is dying; and often the very best thing a man can do to make his life a complete and well-rounded life, is to risk it fearlessly at God's call, or to lay it down cheerfully at the call of God.—S. S. Times.