September 24

"Draw me; we will run after thee." Song of Songs 1:4

Our spiritual energy in following Christ springs from more than inward impulse, even by the indwelling Spirit. It results rather from some power drawing us to him as the Spirit makes him more real and precious to us through the Word.

Far beyond our experience, we are given new revelations of the beauty and majesty of our Lord, and as a consequence are pulled by an irresistible longing to approach ever closer to him.

Notice the effect that such a devoted following of Christ has upon others. It is I who am drawn, but it is we who run after him. In other words, there is something contagious and inspiring about a Christ-dominated life. What a privilege to be so drawn by his love that we influence others to run after the Lord in pursuit of their own closer walk with him!

September 23

"While he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy brake forth in his forehead." 2 Chronicles 26:19

How angry we can get when we are not permitted to serve God in the way which we want! King Uzziah was an earnest man who wanted to offer worshipful service to God, but he wanted to do it in his own way. His way, however, was not God’s way, and so his anger and his efforts ended in disaster.

"Others can do it," he might have argued, "so why not I? Am I not as good as they are?" Our sphere of service is not to be decided in this way. It is not a question of merit but of the divine purpose. Uzziah became very heated when he was not allowed to take this service to God into his own hands, but the heat of the flesh was of no avail. His service was rejected, and he never entered the house of God again. We serve God best when we humbly accept his will as he makes it known to us.

September 22

"He shall . . . bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." John 14:26

Spiritual words, to ensure their effectiveness, must be kept alive in the Spirit. A certain Christian was once convicted of sin. Others had left the meeting hall where conscience had smitten him, but he remained, overwhelmed, feeling himself under divine judgment. That night he saw sin, in the words of one of our hymns, "as black as smoke." With just those few words he was able thereafter to express vividly the repugnancy of sin in God’s eyes. Many were helped and, like him, found forgiveness.

But for two or three years he was harping on the same note. His words, "sin as black as smoke," were still with him; but when he rose to speak, the picture was no longer there. He spoke now, not with tears in his eyes but with a smile. The words were the same, but the man himself was recalling them; the Spirit’s reminder was absent. The Holy Spirit had moved on, for the revelation he had given earlier had served its purpose.

September 21

"Yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight." Matthew 11:26

"It does not really matter at all," the Lord seemed to be saying, "if the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, or Capernaum who have received my help do not know me. Not even the misunderstanding of John the Baptist really matters. One thing only is important, and that is that my Father knows me. If the Father knows, then I am satisfied."

The Father knew him; but Jesus adds (verse 27) that he alone knew the Father and could reveal the Father to others. This has a parallel in us his servants. Are you willing to be known through and through by God and by him alone, or do the opinions of those you serve matter more to you? You cannot lead anyone to God if that is what you want. But surely the hostility, the rejection, the misunderstandings matter nothing! It really is sufficient that your Father knows you, and that in return you know him enough to point others to him.

September 20

"Hallowed be thy name." Matthew 6:9

God’s name is linked with his glory. "I had regard for my holy name, which the children of Israel had profaned among the nations," God said through Ezekiel. The people of God had not hallowed his name; they had instead profaned that name wherever they went. Yet God had regard for his holy name, and he calls us to share his desire that it be hallowed.

It is not enough that we should pray the words; we need to have our whole lives governed by this holy desire. Every day will bring its own challenge to us, asking, Is this just a pious fancy, or a governing factor in our lives? The hallowing of God’s name must begin in the life of the one who prays the prayer.

September 19

"Mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts” Isaiah 6:5

Before sending Isaiah forth as his prophet, God showed him his glory. Exposed to that radiance Isaiah could only cry out in dismay, "Woe is me!" Prior to seeing the Lord, his lips were already unclean and he had already been dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips; yet he was unaware of all this. He might easily have considered himself fit to be a prophet to God’s people—until that light shone down on him and he saw his actual state and theirs.

How could he now become God’s mouthpiece, since his own lips were so defiled? The one thing that made it possible was his response in the face of God’s holiness—this cry of "Woe!"

Given such self-knowledge, he was ready for the seraph to come from the altar and cleanse his lips. Let us, then, keep the sequence in view, for it is a good one: first the uncleanness, then God’s light, followed by the cry of self-knowledge, then the touch of cleansing, and finally the commission to go and serve.

September 18

"Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumb of their right hand, und upon the great toe of their right foot." Leviticus 8:24

In the cleansing of the leper and in the consecration of the priests, blood was smeared upon the ear, the hand, and the foot, and thereafter oil was put upon the blood-stained parts. Elsewhere in Scripture the blood speaks of redemption, and is only through God. There it is objective. Here, however, it is subjective and betokens the working of death.

The blood on ear, hand, and foot indicates that the Lord’s priests must let the cross deal with all they hear and with all their work and their walk, selecting, sifting, and discriminating. The anointing of the Spirit comes where the cross has first been allowed to do its work. When God wants anyone to serve him, it is not quickness of brain or warmth of heart that he looks for. He looks for the marks of the cross on ear and hand and foot.

September 17

"And the law of kindness is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26

In joining two people together as husband and wife,. God has arranged that there should be subjection and love in the family. He has not asked the husband and wife to find and correct each other’s faults. He has not set up husbands to be instructors to their wives, or wives to be teachers to their husbands. A husband need not change his wife or a wife her husband.

Whatever the manner of person you marry, you must expect to live with that for life. Married people should learn to know when to close their eyes. They should learn to love and not try to correct.

As Christians, we must learn to deny ourselves. To deny oneself means to accommodate oneself to others. Family life requires discipline. It means learning to be willing to lay aside your own opinion, in giving due consideration to the views of others.

September 16

"Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown." Revelation 3:11

In most of the seven churches of Asia it is not difficult to discern what it was that the overcomers needed to conquer. In Philadelphia, however, everything seemed to be acceptable to the Lord. We might feel that this was a church after his own heart, a pattern church, with no reason for a special call to its members to be overcomers. Yet the call was made there too, just as in the other six.

The one hint of warning given by the Lord Jesus was that the Philadelphians should hold fast to their spiritual position. This, then, was the sphere in which they must fight and overcome. Their peril was not so much that of doing what was wrong as of failing to keep on steadily in the pathway of God’s will. We all need this same urge from the Lord Jesus, to keep it up right to the moment of his Return.

September 15

"Holding fast the Head, from whom all the body . . . increaseth with the increase of God." Colossians 2:19

Although we are to be diligent in maintaining fellowship in the Body of Christ, we are not told to attach ourselves to our fellow members, but to hold fast the Head. If we are absolutely right with the Lord, then we will be right with fellow believers. There is no possessive relationship between the members; all is through Christ.

If Christ is the Head, then you or I cannot be. The decisions that we make, we make not from personal choice but in obedience to him; and I cannot decide for you nor you for me. I cannot be your head, for no human body obeys two heads! Alas, it sometimes seems that Christ’s Body has too many would-be heads down here. No, let us abandon the ambition to control one another. Christ alone is the Head of us all.