wall, or turn aside to eat, but always walked just at the heels of the shepherd-where the shepherd went, it went, when the shepherd stopped, it stopped-and so, whilst the other goats were afraid, it did not fear the shepherd. So, dear child, follow Jesus -keep close to Jesus, for He is your Shepherd. Pray that His precious blood may purge your conscience, and purify your heart, and then you will trust and not be afraid, and then your heart will not be "lifted up," but be meek and lowly.

PETER;

Or, the wish to know what does not concern us.

If you look, my young friend, at the beginning of the 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel, you will see that seven of the disciples went out fishing together. You will perhaps say, "where does it say, that there were seven disciples together?" In the second verse. It tells us the names of three. One was Simon Peter, who denied Jesus, but afterwards repented. Another was Thomas, who for a time would not believe that Jesus had risen, but afterwards said, "My Lord and my God." Another was Nathaniel, who once said, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" but afterwards he said,

(John i. 49), "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." Then the two sons of Zebedee were there; you know their names, do you not? James and John. And there were two other disciples, whose names we do not know. These seven went out fishing, but for a long time they caught nothing. But who, do you think, went to them? Jesus, we are told (v. 4) stood on the shore, and then they caught a great many fishes. They must have been very tired with spreading their nets so often, and so Jesus kindly told them to eat. And when they had eaten and were refreshed, He turned to Peter, and asked him the same touching question three times. Do you remember what it was? You will find it in (v. 15,) "Lovest thou Me?" What did Peter answer? "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." Suppose, my dear reader, that Jesus were to take you aside, and ask you this question, what should you answer? Could you say, "Thou knowest

Oh, are there not

that I love Thee." some here, who love their parents, and brothers, and sisters; and yet there is One, whom they do not love! They do not love Jesus, though He died for them. Did Christ say anything more to Peter? Yes, look at (v. 18:) "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." What did He mean? He meant that ungodly men would seize Peter, and drag him away to a cross, and crucify him, like his Master. We do not know exactly how we shall die. Some of us may die suddenly, and some may have a long illness first. Some of us may suffer very much in dying, and some scarcely at all. But Peter knew beforehand how he would die. Now when he knew how he would die himself, he wished to know how John

would die. Seeing John following, he said to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" What was it, that made Peter ask such a question? It was curiosity. Did Jesus tell him? No; He said, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me."

I have told you already, my young friend, about some wrong wishes. To-day let us think about another wrong wish, "the wish to know what does not concern us." Is it not a very common wish?

There are two kinds of curiosity; one is right, and the other is wrong. Let me first explain the difference between a right and wrong curiosity, and then give you some common instances of the last, "the wish to know what does not concern us."

First, then, there is a curiosity that is right. God Himself has planted it in our hearts. It is a desire to know what does concern us-to know all the beautiful works of God, and above all to know God Himself. Moses had this curiosity.