Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/356

 steadfast in  the  way  of  the  Lord  "  (Ecclus.  v.  12),  and  if you  discover  that  your  devotion  has  grown  cold,  "do penance and  do  the  first  works."    (Apoc.  ii.  5.)

I. As  Christ  was  passing  through  Judea,  "a  certain ruler  asked  Him,  saying,  Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do  to possess  everlasting  life?" (Luke xviii.  18;  Mark  x.  17.) Such ought  to  be  your  thoughts  and  cares;  they  ought to have  for  their  object  not  the  transitory  and  miserable goods of  this  life,  which  vanish  "like  a  vision  of  the night,"  but  the  permanent  and  solid  enjoyment  of  a happy  eternity. Excite yourself  to  a  feeling  desire  of these  enjoyments,  and  often  ask  yourself  this  all-important question  :  "What  shall  I  do  to  possess  everlasting life  V

II. Christ first  answered,  "Keep  the  commandments." (Matt. xix.  17.)  This  is  necessary  for  all  men;  and  it  will not be  sufficient  to  keep  one  or  more  of  them  only,  but you must  observe  them  all,  for  "  whosoever  offendeth  in one  point  is  become  guilty  of  all." (James ii.  10.)  Examine, therefore,  how  you  keep  these  commandments; your observation  of  them  ought  to  be  exact  and  perfect, according to  the  expression  of  the  royal  Psalmist,  "  Thou hast  commanded  Thy  commandments  to  be  kept  most diligently." (Ps. cxviii.  4.)

III. The young  man  having  answered  that  he  had kept all  the  commandments  of  the  law  from  his  youth, "Jesus, looking  on  him,  loved  him,  and  said  to  him,  Sell whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor:  and  comet follow  Me"  (Mark  x.  21);  or  as  St.  Matthew  records