"But l say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Matt. xii. 36.

There has perhaps never been so much idle speaking as at the present time. Men seem to be ungarded in almost every expression that proceeds from their unthoughtful lips. Man is an accountable being, and as such, will have to give account for every idle word spoken. How­ever, very few, seemingly, feel their responsibili­ty in this respect. But God who is not slack, and who cannot look on sin with the least degree of allowance, will certainly hold us to account for every idle word. All of us are guilty of idle speaking, to some extent at least, and just why we do it I have never been able to understand.

I think many of us are ignorant Of the fact, "that every idle word that man shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judg­ment.'' people, generally speaking, think there is no harm in jesting, joking and sometimes tell, ing a chunk of a lie in a joking way. This, kind reader, is Wrong. We should not talk merely, to be talking; but should ponder well our words and ways before we speak. Our word and conversation should not merely be an idle tale told, but it should be seasoned with divine grace, ever praising and giving thanks to the great God who gave us being. Idle speaking has many bad features, some of which but few have ever thought of. For instance, a tattler in a community can soon get a neighborhood at outs with each other.

"Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment." How careful we should be to guard our tongue, remembering that we are accountable creatures and must soon be called to appear before God, to give an account of the deeds done in the body. Christian reader, this is a solemn thought, and the question often presents itself to our mind, What shall our answers be?

When we in the judgment stand,

In that mighty company,

And the judge shall question us,

oh, what shall our answer be?

And again,

Lord, it is a solemn thought,

That we must account to thee!

In that great and awful day,

What shall our poor answer be?

Dear reader, our warfare will soon be over here, then let us so live and so act that when we are called to appear before the Great Judge we can say, "Come welcome death, I'll gladly go with thee."

Brother Webb, do as you think best with the above and all will be well with me.

A TRUMPET READER.