You are set apart to his
service, in a sense that others are not, and consequently are "_holy_."
In this solemn dedication, your parents professed their faith in the
triune God, and their desire that you should be his servants. They took
him to be your God according to the terms of his covenant; they desired
that you might be engrafted into Christ, and claimed for you the promise
of the Holy Spirit to regenerate and sanctify you. Now this, in itself,
is an unspeakable blessing. On their part it was an act of faith and
obedience. In compliance with the divine direction, they claimed for
themselves and for you a privilege which has been the birthright of the
church in all ages. They commended you in the most solemn manner to
God--the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, a covenant-keeping God,
who is rich in mercy, infinite in resources, and who has promised "to be
a God _to thee and to thy seed after thee_." It _is_ an unspeakable
blessing to be thus placed under his protection, to be brought within
the bonds of his covenant, and to be entitled to that pledge of mercy
which he has made "unto thousands of them that love him and keep his
commandments." If it were a privilege for children to be brought to
Christ to receive his blessing while he was on earth, equally is it a
privilege to be brought to him now that he is exalted to the majesty on
high, and "able," as then, "to save unto the uttermost.
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