Three months passed by.  Then one day the king came again and took the chest away.  But peace and happiness did not depart with the chest.  The home was as happy and peaceful and free from bickering through all the coming months as through the three when the wonderful chest was in the house.  What was the chest?  It was not the king’s chest; it was the ark of God.  You will find this true story in Second Samuel, the sixth chapter.

Memory Verse, II Samuel 6:  11

    “And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the
    Gittite three months; and the Lord blessed him, and all his
    household.”

Memory hymn [671]

    "O happy home, where thou art loved the dearest."

SYSTEM

Here are three books.  I put them down like this, one beside the other, that is system.  I throw them down carelessly, that is not system, it is not orderly.

Here is a little box.  Inside are letters, such as you see on the sign in front of the Church.  Each letter has a space all its own.  Now if A were put down at M, M at Z, and E at X, what a task it would be to pick out the letters and make a sign!

One day I visited a Chinese school.  Such lack of system, such disorderliness I never did see!  Such noise I never did hear!  They were all studying at the tops of their voices, sitting around in all sorts of ways, each trying to out-shout the other.  Another day I went into a school here in our city.  I saw the desks arranged in systematic fashion, each child with a desk all his own.  In front I saw a platform, with a larger desk, for the teacher.  All was quiet and orderly.

Here I have a package of envelopes.  There are fifty-two envelopes, one for each Sunday in the year.  Each envelope is divided in the center.  On one side I read, “For others.”  On the other half I read, “For ourselves.”  I need not tell you that these are church envelopes.  In this way, this systematic way, we support our local church and pay to missions.  We like to have the girls and boys, as well as older people, use these envelopes.  The financial secretary of your church is just as willing to keep the records of young people who give but five cents in each side of the envelope as he is to keep the account of the man or woman who places five dollars in each side of the envelope every Sunday.  You see we want you to grow up systematic and orderly in all your religious life.  Our Master is pleased when we do our religious duties “decently and in order.”

Memory verse, I Corinthians 16:  2

    “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in
    store, as God hath prospered him.”

Memory hymn [631]

    "Jesus shall reign where’er the sun."

A BOY FROM THE COUNTRY