=October 18th.=
_Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Psa. xci. 3._
_He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler._ That is, from the little things, the hidden traps and nets that are set for us. Great sins frighten where little snares entangle. It is easier to escape the huntsman"s arrow than the crafty lure.
And where are they not set? Riches and poverty, sickness and strength, prosperity and adversity, friendship and loneliness, the work and the want of it--each has its snare, wherein not only are the unwary caught, but the wise and the watchful sometimes fall a prey. Little things, mere threads, hardly worth guarding against--yet they are strong enough to hold us and hinder us, and may be the beginning of our destruction.--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._
=October 19th.=
_The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen. iv. 15._
We speak of the mark of Cain as if it was the mark of a curse. In reality it was the mark of G.o.d"s mercy, a defence against his enemies.--_D. J. Burrell._
=October 20th.=
_Who is among you that feareth the Lord . . . that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his G.o.d. Isa.
l. 10._
"In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we can do but one thing, there is only one way; we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there."
This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you; and then you can do but one thing; there is only one way. Reason cannot help you.
Past experiences give you no light. Even prayer fetches no consolation.
Only a single course is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep it there. You must stay upon the Lord; and, come what may--winds, waves, cross seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers--no matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm, and hold fast your confidence in G.o.d"s faithfulness, His covenant engagement, His everlasting love in Christ Jesus.--_Richard Fuller._
=October 21st.=
_Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Rev. ii. 10._
There is a heaven at the end of every faithful Christian"s journey.--_Cuyler._
=October 22nd.=
_Flee into Egypt. Matt. ii. 13._
Why? Because there is a cruel king who will seek the young child"s life.
Is Christ born in thee? Is thy life like that manger--precious as a casket, because of what it holds? Then have a care; for, craftier and more unscrupulous than Herod, the destroyer of souls will seek to destroy thee.
There is a day coming when they shall say, "They are dead which sought the young child"s life." Grace shall survive the foe, and we shall yet return to enjoy the comforts of life, with no Herod to threaten us.
After all, it is sin which is short-lived, for goodness shall flourish when the evil one is chained up for ever.--_Thos. Champness._
=October 23rd.=
_As my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. 1 Kings ii. 38._
There is something infinitely better than doing a great thing for G.o.d, and the infinitely better thing is to be where G.o.d wants us to be, to do what G.o.d wants us to do, and to have no will apart from His.--_G.
Campbell Morgan._
=October 24th.=
_Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matt. v. 16._
They say the world has an eagle eye for anything inconsistent, an eye sharp to discover the vagaries and inconsistencies in the defaulty and the unworthy. It has an eagle eye; but the eagle winks before the sun, and the burning iris of its eye shrinks abashed before the unsullied purity of noon. Let your light so shine before men, that others, awed and charmed by the consistency of your G.o.dly life, may come to enquire, and to say you have been with Jesus.--_Punshon._
=October 25th.=
_The eleven disciples went . . . into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them . . . Jesus came and spake unto them saying . . . Go ye and teach all nations.
Matt. xxviii. 16, 18, 19._
The considerable actions in the world have usually very small beginnings. Of a few letters, how many thousand words are made! Of ten figures, how many thousand numbers! A point is the beginning of all geometry. A little stone flung into a pond makes a little circle, then a greater, till it enlarges itself to both the sides. So from small beginnings G.o.d doth cause an efflux through the whole world.--_Charnock._
=October 26th.=
_Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke ii. 10._
It is true that these good tidings of great joy were to be "for all people," but not _first_. The message falls on our own ears, and is first for our own souls.
Oh, ponder this well! Take all G.o.d"s truths home _first_ to thine own heart. Ask in earnest prayer that the Spirit may write them with the pen of heaven on thine own conscience. Then wilt thou be a vessel fitted for the Master"s use, and carry His message with spiritual power to the souls of others.--_F. Whitfield._
=October 27th.=
_Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. Heb. xii. 6._
Earthly prosperity is no sign of the special love of heaven: nor are sorrow and care any mark of G.o.d"s disfavor, but the reverse. G.o.d"s love is robust, and true, and eager--not for our comfort, but for our lasting blessedness; it is bent on achieving this, and it is strong enough to bear misrepresentation and rebuke in its attempts to attune our spirits to higher music. It therefore comes instructing us. Let us enter ourselves as pupils in the school of G.o.d"s love. Let us lay aside our own notions of the course of study; let us submit ourselves to be led and taught; let us be prepared for any lessons that may be given from the blackboard of sorrow: let us be so a.s.sured of the inexhaustible tenacity of His love as to dare to trust Him, though He slay us. And let us look forward to that august moment when He will give us a reason for all life"s discipline, with a smile that shall thrill our souls with ecstasy, and constrain sorrow and sighing to flee away forever.--_F. B.
Meyer._
=October 28th.=
_Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you. John xvi. 23._
Prayer must be based upon promise, but, thank G.o.d, His promises are always broader than our prayers! No fear of building inverted pyramids here, for Jesus Christ is the foundation.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._
=October 29th.=
_He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples" feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. John xiii. 4, 5._
Acts are common and mean because they are ordinarily expressive of the common and mean thoughts of men. Let us not accuse the acts that make up our daily life of meanness, but our ign.o.ble souls that reveal themselves so unworthily through those acts. The same act may successively mount up through every intermediate stage from the depth of unworthiness to a transcendent height of excellence, according to the soul that is manifested by it. One of the glorious ends of our Lord"s incarnation was that He might propitiate us with the details of life, so that we should not disdain these as insignificant, but rather disdain ourselves for our inability to make these details interpreters of a n.o.ble nature. Oh, let us then look with affectionateness and grat.i.tude upon the daily details of life, seeing the sanctifying imprint of the hand of Jesus upon them all!--_George Bowen._