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remember him, and try to please him, will he love
you, and make you happy. God has promised to
love those who keep his commandments. I could
show you many such promises in the Bible. And
you perceive that it must be so.
When your par-
ents make a rule or law for your behavior, you
know them to be desirous that you should keep it,
and you know that they will love you if you do
keep it. They would not make a law for you, if
they did not wish you to observe it. God would
not make a law, if he did not wish to

have it ob-
served. If you do as he wishes, and observe his
laws, he will love you, and make you happy. You
will feel that he loves you, just as you feel that your
parents love you when you obey them.
you obey them. Are you
not happy when you feel that your parents love
you? Just so will you be happy when you feel that
God loves you. God is your heavenly Parent. He
will lead you, and protect you, and will never suf-
fer any
real harm to come to those whom he loves.
He will give you sweet sleep when you are weary.
He will give you health of body and health of mind.
He will make other people love you and do you
good. Such things are what are called temporal
blessings; and God generally gives them to those
whom he loves.

But if he should not give you

these, you will learn, that if he loves you, you can be happy without them. If you should be ill and unable to sleep, you can think on his love, and that will soothe you. If you should be in grief, the thought of his love will calm you. If you should be poor, you will feel that his love is riches enough; and if other people neglect you, you will be comforted by thinking that God is near you, and will never forget nor forsake you. In short, you will find more and more, as you grow older, that if you continue to remember and obey your Creator, though you will probably have abundance of temporal blessings from him, his love alone will be your greatest happiness; and that if your temporal blessings are taken away, you will still be happy, because the love of God will be left you. You will learn not to depend, for all your happiness, on things which may go away, and leave you miserable; but you will depend on God, who cannot go away from you, and you will be happy in his love, which cannot be taken away from you.

"

Should you ask the question, What shall I do for God, who is so good to me; who gives me friends to take care of me, and so many excellent and beautiful things to see and enjoy, and who gives me his love, which is better than all ? Can I not do

something for him? No; you can do nothing for him in the way of helping him; because he is all powerful, and can do every thing, and is all wise, and knows how to do all things right. He does not need your aid in any of his grand operations in the universe. You can only love him, obey him, and be thankful to him. But by doing this, you can, in a certain sense, do something for God. By being good yourselves, you are permitted to do something for God. Yes, even a little child, can, in this way of considering the subject, do something for God, because he does what God wishes him to do.

Let us suppose that one of you, after thinking how kind his earthly father had always been to him, should feel full of gratitude, and run and say to him, Father, you are very kind to me, you are always doing me good-what can I do for you? can I not help you in your business or your profession? His father would probably say to him, No, my child, you cannot help me in that way. You are too young and too weak to be able to do anything for me in the business which I pursue ;—but in another way you can do something for me, and something which I shall be rejoiced to have you do. You can obey me; you can mind what I say to you; you can love your brothers and sisters, and be kind to

them, and help them, so that I may have a peaceful, happy family around me, and that will be doing something for me, a great deal for me.

In a way similar to this, you can do something for your Maker. One of the methods which God has chosen in making his human children happy, is by so placing them together in the world, that they may make each other happy. And when they make each other happy, by doing real and lasting good to each other, they are doing something for God. If you are kind, and benevolent, and gentle, and accommodating to those who are around you, no matter whether they are rich or poor, of this country or that country, you are doing something for God, for they are all his children, and he desires to see them all dwelling peacefully and happily together.

Yes, my children, though God is so powerful, that he does whatever pleases him in heaven and on earth, and keeps all the stars in their stations, and guides all the planets in their mighty courses, and sends the lightnings, and rules over the minds of men and angels, yet you, by your virtues, by your simple obedience, can do something for him. Think of this; and the thought will encourage and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you from disobedience and sin.

Remember, I say again, that even you can do something for the mighty Creator. You can bring him the offerings of your love and your duty. And if you bring them humbly, he will graciously accept them, and count them as of more value than the sacrifices on a thousand altars.