The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity WELLINGTON, JAN. 18, 1919. A PERSONAL QUESTION.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 283, 18 January 1919, Page 9

The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity WELLINGTON, JAN. 18, 1919. A PERSONAL QUESTION.

Lord, what wilt 1 hou have me to do? An old question, a pertinent question, a personal question.

An old question. First heard upon the Syrian plain from the lips, of Saul the Pharisee. That energetic nature must be at work, and when arrested by the bright light and convinced that his past work had been evil, like a flash came the query: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? It was a time when kingdoms, nations, and dynasties were in the melt-ing-pot, and this man was chosen of God to be the leader of His people. Paul's whole life furnished the answer to this question, an answer once put into words by the Apostle, “For me to live is Christ.’’ 1 live only to do His will.

A pertinent question. To-day is also a time of world crisis. For this Dominion the next three months will be a time of crisis, great issues w ill he decided, greater perhaps than most people realise. At such a time, more than ever, the question of Saul must find an echo in the heart of every thoughtful, earnest woman. If each one answers the question in the same whole souled manner as did the great Apostle of old, the issue next April must be a triumphant victory for the cause of right. A personal question. What wilt Thou have me to do? Not what is my President, my leader, to do, hut what am Ito do? What will I hou hive me to do? Not what do my friends, my relatives wish me to do; but what does the Eternal God wish me to do. Reverently, upon our knees, let us ask this question; patiently let us wait upon God for an answer; earnestly, faithfully, let us arise and obey the Divine voice. May the language of each heart be, “Surely my Captain may depend on me, Though but an armour-bearer 1 may be.” Give thought to the subject; study it up to meet objections. Talk about it to everybody you meet in your daily round; write to absent friends and ask them to help us to make New Zealand dry. Create an atmosphere of expectation. , Pray and believe. expect victory; work for victory. If one vote fails us that you might have influenced, your duty is not done. This is to be a fight to the finish, no faltering, no halting, till that grim enemy of God and Home and Humanity —the licensed liquor bar —is defeated, out voted, and banished, and we sing the triumph song over a dry Dominion.

The oft-repeated words of our now sainted leader, Mrs 1.. M. N. Stevens, will bear yet another repetition: “At the end of this fight any Union which has one cent left in its treasury, or one ounce of energy left among its members, is unworthy the name of a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.”

WORK AND PRAYER. They cannot he divorced. What is earnestly prayed for must be greatly desired. What is greatly desired must he ardently worked for. “0, it is hard to work for God, To rise and take His part. Upon this battlefield of earth, And not sometimes lose heart.

Workman of God, O lose not heart, But learn what God is like; And in the darkest battlefield Thou shalt know where to strike.

We cannot do better, in closing, than quote the call to pr.»>er from the page of our esteemed contempt.i ary, “The Methodist Times”:— “But there is one way of helping in this struggle for the overthrow of the liquor curse that we wish specially to commend to our readers. It was prayer that won for us six o clock closing. It was prayer that secured the astonishing result of a Bill providing for a vote for National Prohibition on a bare majority. And it will be prayer that will be the most important factor in bringing off a

National Prohibition victory. I herefore, to your knees, 0 Israel! Let God be entreated to give the strength of His right arm to those who arc fighting for the overthrow of the greatest barrier that exists to the spread of His kingdom. Daily let the prayer go up from every Christi.in hear*: O God, speed the cause of Prohibition to a successful issue on April io. More than that. The suggestion has been made, which we cordially endorse, that every Church in New Zealand should be opened, say, on two evenings a week, in which those whose hearts are touched may meet for united prayer on behalf of this cause. Let all be encouraged to pray, not only those who can lift up their voices in prayer, bat those als > who pray in silence. There need be no formality about such meetings. It is not necessary that the minister should be always there. He ought to have his hands full with other work in connection with the movement. All ordinary engagements should be suspended in view of the tremendous issues at st.ike on April io. Who c,*n doubt the result if God’s people all over the country join in fervent supplication on behalf of victory? God has honoured faithful, believing prayer in the past, and He will honour it again if we only put Him to the test. LORD, TEACH LS TO PRAY.” A c ause like ours is holy, And it useth holy things, While o’er the storm of a righteous strife May shine the angel’s wings. Where'er our duty leads us, The grac e of God is there, And the lurid shrine of war May hold the eucharist of prayer.