in heaven, I shall henceforth pray without ceasing.  Far far better for me all the rest of my sinful life to be clothed with sackcloth and ashes, even if there is no fountain opened in Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness, and no change of raiment.  Christian protested that, as for him, lions and all, he had no choice left.  And no more have we.  He must away somewhere, anywhere, from his past life.  And so must we.  If all the lions that ever drank blood are to collect upon his way, let them do so; they shall not all make him turn back.  Why should they?  What is a whole forest full of lions to a heart and a life full of sin?  Lions are like lambs compared with sin.  ’Good morning!  I for one must venture.  I shall yet go forward.’  So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill, and Christian went on his way.

So I saw in my dream that he made haste and went forward, that if possible he might get lodging in the house called Beautiful that stood by the highway side.  Now, before he had gone far he entered into a very narrow passage which was about a furlong off from the porter’s lodge, and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way.  Then was he afraid, and thought also to go back, for he thought that nothing but death was before him.  But the porter at the lodge, whose name was Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt, as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, ’Is thy strength so small?  Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are only placed there for the trial of faith where it is, and for the discovery of those who have none.  Keep the midst of the path and no hurt shall come to thee.’  Yes, that is all we have to do.  Whatever our past life may have been, whatever our past sins, past errors of judgment, past mistakes and mishaps, whatever of punishment or chastisement or correction or instruction or sanctification and growth in grace may be under those lions’ skins and between their teeth for us, all we have got to do at present is to leave the lions to Him who set them there, and to go on, up to them and past them, keeping always to the midst of the path.  The lions may roar at us till they have roared us deaf and blind, but we are far safer in the midst of that path than we would be in our own bed.  Only let us keep in the midst of the path.  When their breath is hot and full of blood on our cheek; when they paw up the blinding earth; when we feel as if their teeth had closed round our heart,—­still, all the more, let us keep in the midst of the path.  We must sometimes walk on a razor-edge of fear and straightforwardness; that is the only way left for us now.  But, then, we have the Divine assurance that on that perilous edge no hurt shall come to us.  ‘Temptations,’ says our author in another place, ’when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey in them.’  O God, for grace and sense and imagination to see and understand and apply all that to our own daily life!  O to be able to take all that home to-night and see it all there; lions and runaways, venturesome souls, narrow paths, palaces of beauty, everlasting life and all!  Open Thou our eyes that we may see the wonderful things that await us in our own house at home!