This great Friend is always giving His blood. It is a lasting shame when professed Christians are afflicted with spiritual anaemia. And yet we are often so fearful, so white-faced, so chicken-hearted, so averse from battle, that no one would think us to be "the soldiers of the Lord." We need blood. "Except ye drink my blood ye have no life."

And in my Lord's friendship there is the _privilege of most intimate communion_.

"All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." He takes us into His confidence, and tells us His secrets. It is His delight to lift the veil, and give us constant surprises of love and grace. He discovers flowers in desert places, and in the gloom He unbosoms "the treasures of darkness." He is a Friend of inexhaustible resource, and His companionship makes the pilgrim's way teem with interest, and abound in the wonders of redeeming grace.

DECEMBER The Third

_ARMS AND THE MAN!_

1 THESSALONIANS v. 4-10.

What wonderful armour is offered to me in which to meet the insidious a.s.saults of the devil!

There is "_the armour of light_." Sunlight is the most sanative energy we know. It is the foe of many a deadly microbe which seeks a lodging in our bodies. Light is a splendid armour, even in the realm of the flesh. And so it is in the soul. If the soul is a home of light, the eternal light, evil germs will die as soon as they approach us. They will find nothing to breed on. "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."

And there is the armour of "_faith and love_." The opposite to faith is uncertainty, and the opposite to love is cynicism, and who does not know that uncertainty and cynicism are the very hotbeds for the machinations of the evil one? When faith is enthroned the soul is open to the reception of grace, and when love shares the throne the sovereignty is invincible.

And there is the armour of "_hope_." Even in a physical ailment a man has a mighty ally who wrestles in hope. And when a man's hope is in the Lord his G.o.d all the powers in the heavenly places are his allies, and by his hope he shall be saved.

DECEMBER The Fourth

_CHILDREN OF LIGHT_

1 THESSALONIANS v. 5-11.

Can we think of a more beautiful figure than this--"_children of light_"?

As I write these words I look out upon a building every window of which is ablaze with light, every room the home of attractive brightness. And my life is to be like that! And I look again and I see a lighthouse sending out its strong, pure, friendly beams to guide the mariner as he seeks his "desired haven." And my life is to be like that! And I look once more, and I see a common road lamp, sending its useful light upon the busy street, helping the wayfarer as he goes from place to place. And my life is to be like that!

And if my soul is all lit up in friendly radiance for others, the light will be my own defence. Light always scares away the vermin. Lift up a stone in the meadow, let in the light, and see how a hundred secret things will scurry away. And light in the soul scares away "the unfruitful works of darkness"; they cannot dwell with the light. Light repels the evil one; it acts upon him like burning flame. Yes, we are well protected when we are clothed in "the armour of light."

But how can we become "children of light," holy homes of protective and saving radiance? Happily, it is not our lot to provide the light, it is ours to provide the lamp. If we offer the lamp the Lord will give the flame.

DECEMBER The Fifth

_THE SECOND-BEST FOR G.o.d_

1 CHRONICLES xvii. 1-15.

So the best was for man, and the second-best for G.o.d! The cedar for self-indulgence, and the curtains for the home of worship! It is a marked sign of spiritual awakening when a man begins to contrast his own indulgences with the rights of G.o.d. There are so many of us who are lavish in our home and miserly in the sanctuary. We multiply treasures which bring us little profit, and we are n.i.g.g.ardly where treasure would be of most gracious service.

"I dwell in a house of cedar," and yet I am thoughtless about G.o.d's poor!

For I must remember that the poor are the arks of the Lord. "I was naked, and ye clothed Me not."

"I dwell in a house of cedar"; my liberties are many and s.p.a.cious; and yet there are tribes of G.o.d's people held in the tyranny of dark and hopeless servitude. I dwell in England, but what about the folk on the Congo? I dwell in a land of ample religious freedom, but what about Armenia? Do my sympathies remain confined within my cedar walls, or do they go out to G.o.d's neglected ones in every land and clime?

DECEMBER The Sixth

_THE GRACE OF LOWLINESS_

1 CHRONICLES xvii. 16-27.

It is by such lowliness that we arrive at our true sovereignty. All spiritual treasures are hidden along the ways of humility, and it is meekness which discovers them. The uplifted head of pride overlooks them, and its "finds" are only pleasure of the pa.s.sing day.

Lowliness is the secret of spiritual perceptiveness. I find my sight in lowly places. The Sacred Word speaks of "the _valley_ of vision." I usually a.s.sociate vision and outlook with mountain summits, but in spiritual realms the very capacity to use the heights is acquired in the vale.

Lowliness is the secret of spiritual roominess. It is only the humble man who has any room for the Lord. All the chambers in the proud man's soul are thronged with self-conceits, and G.o.d is crowded out. Our Lord always finds ample room for Himself wherever the heart bows in humility and says: "I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof."

DECEMBER The Seventh

_CHOSEN AS BUILDERS_

"_Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build._"

--1 CHRONICLES xxviii. 1-10.

And how must he take heed? For it may be that the Lord hath also chosen me to build, and the counsel given to Solomon may serve me in this later day.

Let me listen.

"_Serve Him with a perfect heart._" G.o.d's chosen builders must be characterized by singleness and simplicity. He can do nothing with "double" men, who do things only "by half," giving one part to Him and the other part to Mammon. It is like offering the stock of a gun to one man and the barrel to another; and the effect is nil. No, the entire gun! The "perfect heart"!

"_And with a willing mind._" For the willing mind is the ready mind, and G.o.d can do nothing with the unready. I never know just when He will call me to add another stone to the rising walls of the New Jerusalem, and if I am "otherwise engaged" I am a grievous hindrance to His gracious plans. He must be willing and ready who would be a builder of the walls of Zion. And to that man the Lord will entrust the privilege of responsibility.

DECEMBER The Eighth

_JUDGED BY OUR ASPIRATIONS_

"_Thou didst well, it was in thine heart._"