Part 8 (1/2)

FEBRUARY The Seventeenth

_BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS_

”_He read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings._”

--JOSHUA viii. 30-35.

We are inclined to read only what pleases us, to hug the blessings and to ignore the warnings. We bask in the light, we close our eyes to the lightning. We recount the promises, we shut our ears to the rebukes. We love the pa.s.sages which speak of our Master's gentleness, we turn away from those which reveal His severity. And all this is unwise, and therefore unhealthy. We become spiritually soft and anaemic. We lack moral stamina. We are incapable of n.o.ble hatred and of holy scorn. We are invertebrate, and on the evil day we are not able to stand.

We must read ”all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings.”

We must let the Lord brace us with His severities. We must gaze steadily upon the appalling fearfulness of sin, and upon its terrific issues. At all costs we must get rid of the spurious gentleness that holds compromise with uncleanness, that effeminate affection which is dest.i.tute of holy fire. We must seek the love which burns everlastingly against all sin; we must seek the gentleness which can fiercely grip a poisonous growth and tear it out to its last hidden root. We must seek that holy love which is as a ”consuming fire.”

FEBRUARY The Eighteenth

_THE SUBTLETY OF TEMPTATION_

JAMES i. 12-20.

Evil enticements always come to us in borrowed attire. In the Boer War ammunition was carried out in piano cases, and military advices were transmitted in the skins of melons. And that is the way of the enemy of our souls. He makes us think we are receiving music when he is sending explosives; he promises life, but his gift is laden with the seeds of death. He offers us liberty, and he hides his chains in dazzling flowers.

”Things are not what they seem.”

And so our enemy uses mirages, and will-o'-the-wisps and tinselled crowns.

He lights friendly fires on perilous coasts to snare us to our ruin. And therefore we need clear, sure eyes. We need a refined moral sense which can discriminate between the true and the false, and which can discern the enemy even when he comes as ”an angel of light.” And we may have this wisdom from ”the G.o.d of all wisdom.” By His grace we may be kept morally sensitive, and we shall know our foe even when he is a long way off.

FEBRUARY The Ninteenth

_THE THOUGHT AFAR OFF_

PSALM cx.x.xix. 1-12.

”Thou knowest my thought afar off.” That fills me with awe. I cannot find a hiding-place where I can sin in secrecy. I cannot build an apparent sanctuary and conceal evil within its walls. I cannot with a sheep's skin hide the wolf. I cannot wrap my jealousy up in flattery and keep it unknown. ”Thou G.o.d seest me.” He knows the bottom thought that creeps in the bas.e.m.e.nt of my being. Nothing surprises G.o.d! He sees all my sin. So am I filled with awe.

”Thou knowest my thought afar off.” This fills me also with hope and joy.

He sees the faintest, weakest desire, aspiring after goodness. He sees the smallest fire of affection burning uncertainly in my soul. He sees every movement of penitence which looks toward home. He sees every little triumph, and every altar I build along life's way. Nothing is overlooked.

My G.o.d is not like a policeman, only looking for crimes; He is the G.o.d of grace, looking for graces, searching for jewels to adorn His crown. So am I filled with hope and joy.

FEBRUARY The Twentieth