_Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal. vi. 7._
The most common actions of life, its every day and hour, are invested with the highest grandeur, when we think how they extend their issues into eternity. Our hands are now sowing seeds for that great harvest. We shall meet again all we are doing and have done. The graves shall give up their dead, and from the tombs of oblivion the past shall give up all that it holds in keeping, to bear true witness for or against us.--_Guthrie._
=March 3rd.=
_There are eleven days" journey from h.o.r.eb, by the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea. Deut. i. 2._
Eleven days, and yet it took them forty years! How was this? Alas! we need not travel far for the answer. It is only too like ourselves. How slowly we get over the ground! What windings and turnings! How often we have to go back and travel over the same ground, again and again. We are slow travelers because we are slow learners. Our G.o.d is a faithful and wise, as well as a gracious and patient Teacher. He will not permit us to pa.s.s cursorily over our lessons. Sometimes, perhaps, we think we have mastered a lesson and we attempt to move on to another, but our wise Teacher knows better, and He sees the need of deeper ploughing. He will not have us mere theorists or smatterers; He will keep us, if need be, year after year at our scales until we learn to sing.--=C. H. M.=
=March 4th.=
_If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John i. 9._
The same moment which brings the consciousness of sin ought to bring also the confession of it and the consciousness of forgiveness.--_Smith._
=March 5th.=
_As captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.
Josh. v. 14._
Surely Israel might now face the foe with unwavering confidence, and sing of victory even before the battle was gained. And so may the Christian. It is to no conflict of uncertain issue that he advances; the result of the battle is not doubtful. The struggle may be severe, the warfare long; he may sometimes, like the pilgrim, be beaten to the ground, and well-nigh lose his sword; but "though cast down" he is "not destroyed." The Captain of salvation is on his side, and in the midst of sharpest conflict he can say, "Thanks be unto G.o.d, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."--_S. A. Blackwood._
=March 6th.=
_To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phil. i.
21._
Live in Christ, and you are in the suburbs of heaven. There is but a thin wall between you and the land of praises. You are within one hour"s sailing of the sh.o.r.e of the new Canaan.--_William Rutherford._
=March 7th.=
_He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him. John viii. 29._
He who holds nearest communion with heaven can best discharge the duties of everyday life.--_Selected._
=March 8th.=
_Quench not the Spirit. 1 Thess. v. 19._
In order that you may not quench the Spirit, you must make it a constant study to know what is the mind of the Spirit. You must discriminate with the utmost care between His suggestions and the suggestions of your own deceitful heart. You will keep in constant recollection what are the offices of the Spirit as described by Christ in the Gospel of John. You will be on your guard against impulsive movements, inconsiderate acts, rash words. You will abide in prayer. Search the Word. Confess Christ on all possible occasions. Seek the society of His people. Shrink from conformity to the world, its vain fashions, unmeaning etiquette. Be scrupulous in your reading. "What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch!" "Have oil in your lamps." "Quench not the Spirit."--_Bowen._
=March 9th.=
_When He cometh into the world, He saith, . . . A body hast Thou prepared me. Heb. x. 5._
This word of Christ must be adopted by each of His followers. Nothing will help us to live in this world and keep ourselves unspotted but the Spirit that was in Christ, that looked upon His body as prepared by G.o.d for His service; that looks upon our body as prepared by Him too, that we might offer it to Him. Like Christ, we too have a body in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Like Christ, we too must yield our body, with every member, every power, every action, to fulfil His will, to be offered up to Him, to glorify Him. Like Christ, we must prove in our body that we are holy to the Lord.--_Andrew Murray._
=March 10th.=
_Full of [satisfied with] years. Gen. xxv. 8._
Scaffoldings are for buildings, and the moments and days and years of our earthly lives are scaffolding. What are you building inside it? What kind of a structure will be disclosed when the scaffolding is knocked away? Days and years are ours, that they may give us what eternity cannot take away--a character built upon the love of G.o.d in Christ, and moulded into His likeness.
Has your life helped you to do that? If so, you have got the best out of it, and your life is completed, whatever may be the number of its days.
Quality, not quant.i.ty, is the thing that determines the perfectness of a life. Has your life this completeness?--_Alex. McLaren._
=March 11th.=
_Keep yourselves in the love of G.o.d. Jude 21._
Fruit ripened in the sun is sweetest.--_Selected._
=March 12th.=
_Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me. Acts i. 8._
Look at it! Think of it! A hundred and twenty men and women having no patronage, no promise of any earthly favor, no endowment, no wealth--a company of men and women having to get their living by common daily toil, and busied with all the household duties of daily life--and yet _they_ are to begin the conquests of Christianity! To them is entrusted a work which is to turn the world upside down. None so exalted but the influence of this lowly company shall reach to them, until the throne of the Caesars is claimed for Christ. None so far off but the power of this little band gathered in an upper room shall extend to them until the whole world is knit into a brotherhood! Not a force is there on the earth, either of men or devils, but they shall overcome it, until every knee shall bow to their Master, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord.
A thing impossible, absurd, look at it as you will, until you admit this--_they are to be filled with the Holy Ghost_. Then difficulties melt into the empty air. Then there is no limit to their hopes, for there is no limit to their power. Their strength is not only "as the strength of ten," it is as the strength of the Almighty.
This is Christ"s idea of Christianity; the idea not of man--it is infinitely too sublime--the idea of G.o.d!--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._
=March 13th.=
_He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. John xv. 5._
Too much taken up with our work, we may forget our Master; it is possible to have the hand full, and the heart empty. Taken up with our Master we cannot forget our work; if the heart is filled with His love, how can the hands not be active in His service?--_Adolphe Monod._
=March 14th.=
_He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. John vi.
57._
To feed on Christ is to get His strength into us to be our strength. You feed on the corn field, and the strength of the corn field comes into you, and is your strength. You feed on Christ, and then go and live your life; and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battles, and that wins the crown.--_Phillips Brooks._