My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year Part 3

JANUARY The Nineteenth

_THE LOST SHEEP_

EZEKIEL x.x.xiv. 11-19.

And now, again, I am bidden to contemplate the gracious ministries of the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd searches the "far country" for His lost sheep. "_I will bring them ... out of all places where they have been scattered._" He goes into the hard wilderness of cold indifference, and wasteful pride, and desolating sin, searching "high and low" for His foolish sheep. And no place is unvisited by the Great Seeker! Every perilous ravine, where a sheep can be lost, knows the footprints of the Shepherd. And He knows my far-country, and He is seeking me!

And the Good Shepherd brings His wandering sheep back home. "_I will bring them ... to their own land._" We return from the land of pride to the home of lowliness, from hard indifference to gracious sympathy, from the barrenness of sin to the beauty of holiness. We come back to G.o.d's beautiful "lily-land" of eternal light and peace.

And what nutriment the Good Shepherd provides for the home-coming sheep!

"_I will feed them in a good pasture._" Our wasted powers shall be renewed and strengthened by the fattening diet of grace. Love shall be both host and meat! "He will satisfy thy mouth with good things."

JANUARY The Twentieth

_THE Pa.s.sING OF THE BEAST_

EZEKIEL x.x.xiv. 23-31.

When the Good Shepherd has charge of His flock "_the wild beasts will cease out of the land_." All beastly pa.s.sions shall be destroyed. The fair gardens of our souls shall no longer be ravaged by sleek pride, or fierce appet.i.te, or ravenous l.u.s.t. "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."

And the forces of nature shall be in friendly co-operation. "_I will cause the shower to come down in his season._" We are to have mystic allies in sky and field. Nature sides with the man who sides with G.o.d. Our very garden becomes our helpmeet when we are cultivating the fruits of the Spirit. The heavens a.s.sume a friendly aspect when we are "marching to beautiful Zion." But when we are against the Lord all these forces appear to be hostile. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera."

And we are to have a joyful a.s.surance of the companionship of our G.o.d.

"_This shall they know, that I, the Lord their G.o.d, am with them._" And in that precious a.s.surance every other treasure is found! Only be sure of that, and we shall walk about as kings and queens!

JANUARY the Twenty-first

_THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL_

MATTHEW xviii. 7-14.

What an infinite value the Lord attaches to one soul! "And _one of them_ be gone astray!" I thought He might never have missed the one! And yet the Eastern shepherd says that out of his great flock he can miss the individual face. A face is missing, as though a child were absent from the family circle. When a soul is wandering in the far country there is an awful gap in the Father's house! Is thy place empty? Is mine?

And mark the pangs of the Shepherd's quest. He "_goeth into the mountain and seeketh!_" The Eastern shepherd goes out in tempest, and in rocky ravine, or in th.o.r.n.y scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and th.o.r.n.y places, in the darkness of Gethsemane, and in the awful desolations of The Hill.

And the Shepherd found His sheep, and He returns across the hills singing the song of the triumph of grace--

"And up from the mountains, thunder-riven, And up from the rocky steep, A cry arose to the gates of heaven, 'Rejoice! I have found My sheep!'

And the angels echo around the throne, 'Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!'"

JANUARY The Twenty-second

_MY OWN SHEPHERD_

PSALM xxiii.

How shall we touch this lovely psalm and not bruise it? It is exquisite as "a violet by a mossy stone!" Exposition is almost an impertinence, its grace is so simple and winsome.

There is the ministry of rest. "_He maketh me to lie down in green pastures._" The Good Shepherd knows when my spirit needs relaxation. He will not have me always "on the stretch." The bow of the best violin sometimes requires to have its strings "let down." And so my Lord gives me rest.

And there is the discipline of change. "_He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness._" Those strange roads in life, unknown roads, by which I pa.s.s into changed circ.u.mstances and surroundings! But the discipline of the change is only to bring me into new pastures, that I may gain fresh nutriment for my soul. "Because they have no changes they fear not G.o.d."

And there is "_the valley of the shadow_," cold and bare! What matter? He is there! "I will fear no evil." What if I see "no pastures green"? "Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me!" The Lord, who is leading, will see after my food. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." I have a quiet feast while my foes are looking on!

JANUARY The Twenty-third

_THE GIVER'S HAND_

GENESIS iv. 3-15.

Cain and Abel both brought an offering unto the Lord, but one was accepted and the other rejected. It is the giver who determines the worth or the worthlessness of the gift. G.o.d looks not at the gift, but at the hand that brings it. "Your hands are full of blood!" "Your hands are unclean!" The Lord demands "clean hands." He will not have our compliments if there is defilement behind them. Our courtesies are rejected if iniquity attends them. The shining gloss on the linen is an offence if the dirt looks through! Who cares for food if presented by unclean hands? "Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord!"

Every gift is welcome to the Lord if offered with clean hands. A mite, or a cup of cold water, or our daily labour, or the first-fruits of garden or field--all receive the blessing of our G.o.d if the hands that bring them are free from defilement. So is it with everything we offer to the Lord. A song of praise makes sweet music in the hearing of our G.o.d if it come from pure lips! Purity, as Thomas a' Kempis says, gives the wings which carry everything into the Father's presence.

JANUARY The Twenty-fourth

_THE VOICE OF THE DEAD_

HEBREWS xi. 1-6.

With what voice shall we speak when we are dead? What will men hear when they turn their thoughts toward us? What part of us will remain alive, singing or jarring in men's remembrance? It is the biggest part of us that retains its voice. In some it is wealth, in others it is goodness; some go on speaking in their cruelty, others in their gentleness. Cain still speaks in his jealous pa.s.sion. Abel speaks in his faith. Dorcas speaks in her "good works and alms-deeds which she did"; Judas Iscariot speaks in his betrayal. Yes, something goes on speaking. What shall it be?