Part 41 (1/2)

OCTOBER 2.

”Moses gave not any inheritance; the Lord G.o.d of Israel was their inheritance, as He said unto them” (Josh. xiii. 33).

This is very significant. G.o.d gave the land to the other tribes but He gave Himself to the Levites. There is such a thing in Christian life as an inheritance from the Lord, and there is such a thing as having the Lord Himself for our inheritance.

Some people get a sanctification from the Lord which is of much value, but which is variable, and often impermanent. Others have learned the higher lesson of taking the Lord Himself to be their keeper and their sanct.i.ty, and abiding in Him they are kept above the vicissitudes of their own states and feelings.

Some get from the Lord large measures of joy and blessing, and times of refres.h.i.+ng.

Others, again, learn to take the Lord Himself as their joy.

Some people are content to have peace with G.o.d, but others have taken ”the peace of G.o.d that pa.s.seth all understanding.”

Some have faith _in_ G.o.d, while others have the faith _of_ G.o.d. Some have many touches of healing from G.o.d, others, again, have learned to live in the very health of G.o.d Himself.

OCTOBER 3.

”The little foxes that spoil the vines” (Song of Solomon, ii. 15).

There are some things good, without being perfect. You don't need to have a whole regiment cannonading outside your room to keep you awake. It is quite enough that your little alarm clock rings its little bell. It is not necessary to fret about everything; it is quite enough if the devil gets your mind rasped with one little worry, one little thought which destroys your perfect peace. It is like the polish on a mirror, or an exquisite toilet table, one scratch will destroy it; and the finer it is the smaller the scratch that will deface it. And so your rest can be destroyed by a very little thing. Perhaps you have trusted in G.o.d about your future salvation; but have you about your present business or earthly cares, your money and your family?

What is meant by the peace that pa.s.seth all understanding? It does not mean a peace no one can comprehend. It means a peace that no amount of reasoning will bring. You cannot get it by thinking. There may be perfect bewilderment and perplexity all round the horizon, but yet your heart can rest in perfect security because He knows, He loves, He leads.

OCTOBER 4.

”Instead of the brier, the myrtle tree” (Isa. lv. 13).

G.o.d's sweetest memorial is the transformed thorn and the thistle blooming with flowers of peace and sweetness, where once grew recriminations.

Beloved, G.o.d is waiting to make just such memorials in your life, out of the things that are hurting you most to-day. Take the grievances, the separations, the strained friends.h.i.+ps and the broken ties which have been the sorrow and heartbreak of your life, and let G.o.d heal them, and give you grace to make you right with all with whom you may be wrong, and you will wonder at the joy and blessing that will come out of the things that have caused you nothing but regret and pain.

”Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of G.o.d.” The everlasting employment of our blessed Redeemer is to reconcile the guilty and the estranged from G.o.d, and the highest and most Christ-like work that we can do is, to be like Him.

Shall we go forth to dry the tears of a sorrowing world, to heal the broken-hearted, to bind up the wounds of human lives, and to unite heart to heart, and earth to heaven?