Part 50 (1/2)

”His love in time past Forbids me to think He'll leave me at last In trouble to sink.”

OCTOBER The Seventeenth

_NO QUEST OF G.o.d_

”_He inquired not of the Lord._”

--1 CHRONICLES x. 6-14.

That was where Saul began to go wrong. When quest ceases, conquests cease.

”He inquired not”; and this meant loss of light. G.o.d will be inquired after. He insists that we draw up the blinds if we would receive the light. If we board up our windows He will not drive the gentle rays through our hindrance. We must ask if we would have. The discipline of inquiry fits us for the counsel of the Lord.

”He inquired not”; and this meant loss of sight. When light fails, sight fails. The ponies in our pits become blind. When a spiritual power is not exercised in the heavenly, it is deprived of its appointed functions. And the tragedy is this, that the blind are deceived into thinking that they still retain their sight. ”Ye say, we see!”

”He inquired not”; and this meant loss of might. For ”the light of life”

is not only illumination; it is inspiration too. It is both light and heat; it confers guidance and dynamic. When a man, therefore, refuses the light he becomes a weakling, and he will meet with disaster in the first tempestuous day.

OCTOBER The Eighteenth

_UNANIMITY IN THE SOUL_

”_A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways._”

--JAMES i. 1-8.

If two men are at the wheel with opposing notions of direction and destiny, how will it fare with the boat? If an orchestra have two conductors both wielding their batons at the same time and with conflicting conceptions of the score, what will become of the band? And a man whose mind is like that of two men flirting with contrary ideals at the same time will live a life ”all sixes and sevens,” and nothing will move to purposeful and definite issues. If the mind flirt with Satan and Christ, life will be filled with disastrous instability and confusion.

The first thing we need, therefore, for influential and impressive living is unanimity. Unanimity in the mind is the primary factor in a forceful life. To bring ”all that is within me” into concord, to make every instrument of the soul bow to one conductor, to lead all the powers into homage to the Lord--this is the unanimity which a.s.sures the perfection of holiness. ”Unite my heart to fear Thy name.” That is the mood which wins life's prize, ”the prize of the high calling of G.o.d in Christ Jesus.”

OCTOBER The Nineteenth

_READY!_

”_Let your loins be girded about._”

--LUKE xii. 35-40.

Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by the pa.s.sing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many people go through life with loose beliefs and purposes, and they never arrive at any glorious goal. ”Let your loins be girded about.” Bind your loose thinkings together with the girdle of truth into firm and saving conviction.

”_And your lights burning._”