"FOR HERE WE HAVE NO CONTINUING CITY." There is no permanent rest for the believer on earth; here thistles and thorns abound and a voice is daily sounding in his ears, "Arise ye, and depart." Here you are not to loll at ease or to idle on your journey; here you are not to expect to find satisfaction for it is an enemy's land; and you are only passing through on your way to your heavenly home. If your march is quick and your conduct scriptural, be not surprised if dogs bark at you; they know you not nor did they know your Master. He was pursued, persecuted, and at last put to death by them; and in agony of soul He cried out, "Dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me; they have pierced my hands and my feet." Lay not up treasures for yourselves upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but set your affections on things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Use the world but do not abuse it; pass through it but never seek a home in it; remember it is peopled by the enemies of your God.

For Meditation:
When snares and dangers line my way,
Jesus is all my strength and stay;
Cheerful I'll walk the desert through,
Nor fear what earth or hell can do:
Jesus will ease my troubled breast,
And shortly bring my soul to rest.