What a tremendous lesson of the need of keeping for our hands! Oh that every hand that is with Him at His sacramental table, and that takes the memorial bread, may be kept from any faithless and loveless motion! And again, it was by literal "wicked hands" that our Lord Jesus was crucified and slain. Does not the thought that human hands have been so treacherous and cruel to our beloved Lord make us wish the more fervently that our hands may be totally faithful and devoted to Him?
Danger and temptation to let the hands move at other impulses is every bit as great to those who have nothing else to do but to render direct service, and who think they are doing nothing else. Take one practical instance--our letter-writing. Have we not been tempted (and fallen before the temptation), according to our various dispositions, to let the hand that holds the pen move at the impulse to write an unkind thought of another; or to say a clever and sarcastic thing, or a slightly coloured and exaggerated thing, which will make our point more telling; or to let out a grumble or a suspicion; or to let the pen run away with us into flippant and trifling words, unworthy of our high and holy calling? Have we not drifted away from the golden reminder, "Should he reason with unprofitable talk, and with speeches wherewith he can do no good?" Why has this been, perhaps again and again? Is it not for want of putting our hands into our dear Master"s hand, and asking and trusting Him to keep them? He _could_ have kept; He _would_ have kept!
Whatever our work or our special temptations may be, the principle remains the same, only let us apply it for ourselves.
Perhaps one hardly needs to say that the kept hands will be very gentle hands. Quick, angry motions of the heart will sometimes force themselves into expression by the hand, though the tongue may be restrained. The very way in which we close a door or lay down a book may be a victory or a defeat, a witness to Christ"s keeping or a witness that we are not truly being kept. How can we expect that G.o.d will use this member as an instrument of righteousness unto Him, if we yield it thus as an instrument of unrighteousness unto sin? Therefore let us see to it, that it is at once yielded to Him whose right it is; and let our sorrow that it should have been even for an instant desecrated to Satan"s use, lead us to entrust it henceforth to our Lord, to be kept by the power of G.o.d through faith "for the Master"s use."
For when the gentleness of Christ dwells in us, He can use the merest touch of a finger. Have we not heard of one gentle touch on a wayward shoulder being the turning-point of a life? I have known a case in which the Master made use of less than that--only the quiver of a little finger being made the means of touching a wayward heart.
What must the touch of the Master"s own hand have been! One imagines it very gentle, though so full of power. Can He not communicate both the power and the gentleness? When He touched the hand of Peter"s wife"s mother, she arose and ministered unto them. Do you not think the hand which Jesus had just touched must have ministered very excellently? As we ask Him to "touch our lips with living fire," so that they may speak effectively for Him, may we not ask Him to touch our hands, that they may minister effectively, and excel in all that they find to do for Him? Then our hands shall be made strong by the hands of the Mighty G.o.d of Jacob.
It is very pleasant to feel that if our hands are indeed our Lord"s, we may ask Him to guide them, and strengthen them, and teach them. I do not mean figuratively, but quite literally. In everything they do for Him (and that should be _everything we ever undertake_) we want to do it well--better and better. "Seek that ye may excel." We are too apt to think that He has given us certain natural gifts, but has nothing practically to do with the improvement of them, and leaves us to ourselves for that. Why not ask him to make these hands of ours more handy for His service, more skilful in what is indicated as the "next thynge" they are to do? The "kept" hands need not be clumsy hands. If the Lord taught David"s hands to war and his fingers to fight, will He not teach our hands, and fingers too, to do what He would have them do?
The Spirit of G.o.d must have taught Bezaleel"s hands as well as his head, for he was filled with it not only that he might devise cunning works, but also in cutting of stones and carving of timber. And when all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, the hands must have been made skilful as well as the hearts made wise to prepare the beautiful garments and curtains.
There is a very remarkable instance of the hand of the Lord, which I suppose signifies in that case the power of His Spirit, being upon the hand of a man. In 1 Chron. xxviii. 19, we read: "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." This cannot well mean that the Lord gave David a miraculously written scroll, because, a few verses before, it says that he had it all by the Spirit. So what else can it mean but that as David wrote, the hand of the Lord was upon his hand, impelling him to trace, letter by letter, the right words of description for all the details of the temple that Solomon should build, with its courts and chambers, its treasuries and vessels? Have we not sometimes sat down to write, feeling perplexed and ignorant, and wishing some one were there to tell us what to say? At such a moment, whether it were a mere note for post, or a sheet for press, it is a great comfort to recollect this mighty laying of a Divine hand upon a human one, and ask for the same help from the same Lord. It is sure to be given!
And now, dear friend, what about your own hands? Are they consecrated to the Lord who loves you? And if they are, are you trusting Him to keep them, and enjoying all that is involved in that keeping? Do let this be settled with your Master before you go on to the next chapter.
After all, this question will hinge on another, Do you love Him? If you really do, there can surely be neither hesitation about yielding them to Him, nor about entrusting them to Him to be kept. _Does He love you?_ That is the truer way of putting it; for it is not our love to Christ, but the love of Christ to us which constraineth us. And this is the impulse of the motion and the mode of the keeping. The steam-engine does not move when the fire is not kindled, nor when it is gone out; no matter how complete the machinery and abundant the fuel, cold coals will neither set it going nor keep it working. Let us ask Him so to shed abroad His love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us, that it may be the perpetual and only impulse of every action of our daily life.
Chapter IV.
Our Feet kept for Jesus.
_"Keep my feet, that they may be_ _Swift and beautiful for Thee."_
The figurative keeping of the feet of His saints, with the promise that when they run they shall not stumble, is a most beautiful and helpful subject. But it is quite distinct from the literal keeping for Jesus of our literal feet.
There is a certain homeliness about the idea which helps to make it very real. These very feet of ours are purchased for Christ"s service by the precious drops which fell from His own torn and pierced feet upon the cross. They are to be His errand-runners. How can we let the world, the flesh, and the devil have the use of what has been purchased with such payment?
Shall "the world" have the use of them? Shall they carry us where the world is paramount, and the Master cannot be even named, because the mention of His Name would be so obviously out of place? I know the apparent difficulties of a subject which will at once occur in connection with this, but they all vanish when our bright banner is loyally unfurled, with its motto, "_All_ for Jesus!" Do you honestly want your very feet to be "kept for Jesus"? Let these simple words, "_Kept for Jesus_," ring out next time the dancing difficulty or any other difficulty of the same kind comes up, and I know what the result will be!
Shall "the flesh" have the use of them? Shall they carry us. .h.i.ther and thither merely because we like to go, merely because it pleases ourselves to take this walk or pay this visit? And after all, what a failure it is!
If people only _would_ believe it, self-pleasing is always a failure in the end. Our good Master gives us a reality and fulness of _pleasure_ in pleasing Him which we never get out of pleasing ourselves.
Shall "the devil" have the use of them? Oh no, of course not! We start back at this, as a highly unnecessary question. Yet if Jesus has not, Satan has. For as all are serving either the Prince of Life or the prince of this world, and as no man can serve two masters, it follows that if we are not serving the one, we are serving the other. And Satan is only too glad to disguise this service under the less startling form of the world, or the still less startling one of self. All that is not "kept for Jesus," is left for self or the world, and therefore for Satan.
There is no fear but that our Lord will have many uses for what is kept by Him for Himself. "How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!" That is the best use of all; and I expect the angels think those feet beautiful, even if they are cased in muddy boots or goloshes.
Once the question was asked, "Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?" So if we want to have these beautiful feet, we must have the tidings ready which they are to bear. Let us ask Him to keep our hearts so freshly full of His good news of salvation, that our mouths may speak out of their abundance. "If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth." The "two olive branches empty the golden oil out of themselves." May we be so filled with the Spirit that we may thus have much to pour out for others!
Besides the great privilege of carrying water from the wells of salvation, there are plenty of cups of cold water to be carried in all directions; not to the poor only,--ministries of love are often as much needed by a rich friend. But the feet must be kept for these; they will be too tired for them if they are tired out for self-pleasing. In such services we are treading in the blessed steps of His most holy life, who "went about doing good."
Then there is literal errand-going,--just to fetch something that is needed for the household, or something that a tired relative wants, whether asked or unasked. Such things should come first instead of last, because these are clearly indicated as our Lord"s will for us to do, by the position in which He has placed us; while what _seems_ more direct service, may be after all not so directly apportioned by Him. "I have to go and buy some soap," said one with a little sigh. The sigh was waste of breath, for her feet were going to do her Lord"s will for that next half-hour much more truly than if they had carried her to her well-worked district, and left the soap to take its chance.
A member of the Young Women"s Christian a.s.sociation wrote a few words on this subject, which, I think, will be welcome to many more than she expected them to reach:--
"May it not be a comfort to those of us who feel we have not the mental or spiritual power that others have, to notice that the living sacrifice mentioned in Rom. xii. 1 is our "bodies"? Of course, that includes the mental power, but does it not also include the loving, sympathizing glance, the kind, encouraging word, _the ready errand for another_, the work of our hands, opportunities for all of which come oftener in the day than for the mental power we are often tempted to envy? May we be enabled to offer willingly that which we have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."
If our feet are to be kept at His disposal, our eyes must be ever toward the Lord for guidance. We must look to Him for our orders where to go.
Then He will be sure to give them. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Very often we find that they have been so very literally ordered for us that we are quite astonished,--just as if He had not promised!
Do not smile at a _very_ homely thought! If our feet are not our own, ought we not to take care of them for Him whose they are? Is it quite right to be reckless about "getting wet feet," which might be guarded against either by forethought or afterthought, when there is, at least, a risk of hindering our service thereby? Does it please the Master when even in our zeal for His work we annoy anxious friends by carelessness in little things of this kind?
May every step of our feet be more and more like those of our beloved Master. Let us continually consider Him in this, and go where He would have gone, on the errands which He would have done, "following hard"
after Him. And let us look on to the time when our feet shall stand in the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, when holy feet shall tread the streets of the holy city; no longer pacing any lonely path, for He hath said, "They shall walk with Me in white."
"And He hath said, "How beautiful the feet!"
The "feet" so weary, travel-stained, and worn-- The "feet" that humbly, patiently have borne The toilsome way, the pressure, and the heat.
"The "feet," not hasting on with winged might, Nor strong to trample down the opposing foe; So lowly, and so human, they must go By painful steps to scale the mountain height.
"Not unto all the tuneful lips are given, The ready tongue, the words so strong and sweet; Yet all may turn, with humble, willing "feet,"
And bear to darkened souls the light from heaven.
"And fall they while the goal far distant lies, With scarce a word yet spoken for their Lord-- His sweet approval He doth yet accord; Their "feet" are beauteous in the Master"s eyes.
"With weary human "feet" He, day by day, Once trod this earth to work His acts of love; And every step is chronicled above His servants take to follow in His way."
Sarah Geraldina Stock.
Chapter V.
Our Voices kept for Jesus.
_"Keep my voice, and let me sing_ _Always, only, for my King."_
I have wondered a little at being told by an experienced worker, that in many cases the voice seems the last and hardest thing to yield entirely to the King; and that many who think and say they have consecrated all to the Lord and His service, "revolt" when it comes to be a question of whether they shall sing "always, only," for their King. They do not mind singing a few general sacred songs, but they do not see their way to really singing always and only unto and for Him. They want to bargain and balance a little. They question and argue about what proportion they may keep for self-pleasing and company-pleasing, and how much they must "give up"; and who will and who won"t like it; and what they "really _must_ sing," and what they "really must _not_ sing" at certain times and places; and what "won"t do," and what they "can"t very well help," and so on. And so when the question, "How much owest thou unto my Lord?" is applied to this particularly pleasant gift, it is not met with the loyal, free-hearted, happy response, "All! yes, _all_ for Jesus!"
I know there are special temptations around this matter. Vain and selfish ones--whispering how much better a certain song suits your voice, and how much more likely to be admired. Faithless ones--suggesting doubts whether you can make the holy song "go." Specious ones--asking whether you ought not to please your neighbours, and hushing up the rest of the precept, "Let every one of you please his neighbour _for his good to edification_"
(Rom. xv. 2). Cowardly ones--telling you that it is just a little too much to expect of you, and that you are not called upon to wave your banner in people"s very faces, and provoke surprise and remark, as this might do. And so the banner is kept furled, the witness for Jesus is not borne, and you sing for others and not for your King.
The words had pa.s.sed your lips, "Take my voice!" And yet you will not let Him have it; you will not let Him have that which costs you something, just _because_ it costs you something! And yet He lent you that pleasant voice that you might use it for Him. And yet He, in the sureness of His perpetual presence, was beside you all the while, and heard every note as you sang the songs which were, as your inmost heart knew, _not_ for Him.
Where is your faith? Where is the consecration you have talked about? The voice has not been kept for Him, because it has not been truly and unreservedly given to Him. Will you not now say, "Take my voice, for I had not given it to Thee; keep my voice, for I cannot keep it for Thee"?
And He will keep it! You cannot tell, till you have tried, how surely all the temptations flee when it is no longer your battle but the Lord"s; nor how completely and _curiously_ all the difficulties vanish, when you simply and trustfully go forward in the path of full consecration in this matter. You will find that the keeping is most wonderfully real. Do not expect to lay down rules and provide for every sort of contingency. If you could, you would miss the sweetness of the continual guidance in the "kept" course. Have only one rule about it--just to look up to your Master about every single song you are asked or feel inclined to sing. If you are "willing and obedient," you will always meet His guiding eye. He will always keep the voice that is wholly at His disposal. Soon you will have such experience of His immediate guidance that you will be utterly satisfied with it, and only sorrowfully wonder you did not sooner thus simply lean on it.