Will Jesus accept such a heart as mine?--this erring, treacherous, traitor heart? The past! how many forgotten vows--broken covenants--prayerless days! How often have I made new resolutions, and as often has the reed succ.u.mbed to the first blast of temptation, and the burning flax been well-nigh quenched by guilty omissions and guiltier commissions! Oh! my soul! thou art low indeed,--the things that remain seem "ready to die." But thy Saviour-G.o.d will not give thee "over unto death." The reed is bruised; but He will not pluck it up by the roots. The flax is reduced to a smoking ember; but He will fan the decaying flame. Why wound thy loving Saviour's heart by these repeated declensions? He will not--_cannot_ give thee up. Go, mourn thy weakness and unbelief. Cry unto the Strong for strength. Weary and faint one!

thou hast an Omnipotent arm to lean on. "_He_ fainteth not, neither is weary!" Listen to His own gracious a.s.surance: "Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy G.o.d. I will _strengthen_ thee; yea, I will help thee with the right hand of my righteousness!" Leaving all thy false props and refuges, be this thy resolve: "In the Lord put I my trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

18TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."--JOHN vi. 37.

Encouragement to the Desponding.

"Cast out!" My soul! how oft might this have been thy history! Thou hast cast off thy G.o.d,--might He not oft have "cast out" thee? Yes! cast thee out as fuel for the fire of His wrath,--a sapless, fruitless c.u.mberer. And yet, notwithstanding all thine ungrateful requital for His unmerited forbearance, He is still declaring, "As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." Thy sins may be legion-like,--the sand of the sea may be their befitting type,--the thought of their turpitude and aggravation may be ready to overwhelm thee; but be still! thy patient G.o.d waits to be gracious! Oh! be deeply humbled and softened because of thy guilt, resolve to dedicate thyself anew to His service, and so coming, "He will _by no means_ cast thee out!" Despond not by reason of former shortcomings,--thy sins are great, but thy Saviour's merits are greater. He is willing to forget all the past, and sink it in oblivion, if there be present love, and the promise of future obedience. "Simon, son of Jonas, _lovest thou me_?" Ah! how different is G.o.d's verdict from man's! After such sins as thine, man's sentence would have been, "_I_ will in nowise receive!" But "it is better to fall into the hands of G.o.d, than into the hands of man;" for He says, "I will in _nowise_ cast out!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

19TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth."--JOHN xiv. 27.

Peace in Believing.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."

"Perfect peace!"--what a blessed attainment! My soul! is it thine? Sure I am it is _not_, if thou art seeking it in a perishable world, or in the perishable creature, or in thy perishable self. Although thou hast all that the world would call enviable and happy, unless thou hast peace _in_ G.o.d, and _with_ G.o.d, all else is unworthy of the name;--a spurious thing, which the first breath of adversity will shatter, and the hour of death utterly annihilate! Perfect peace! What is it? It is the peace of forgiveness. It is the peace arising out of a sense of G.o.d reconciled through the blood of the everlasting covenant,--resting sweetly on the bosom, and the work of Jesus,--to Him committing thine eternal all. My soul! stay thyself on G.o.d, that so this blessed peace may be thine. Thou hast tried the world. It has deceived thee. Prop after prop of earthly scaffolding has yielded, and tottered, and fallen. Has thy G.o.d ever done so? Ah! this false and counterfeit world-peace may do well for the world's work, and the world's day of prosperity. But test it in the hour of sorrow; and what can it do for thee when most it is needed? On the other hand, what though thou hast no other blessing on earth to call thine own? Thou art rich indeed, if thou canst look upwards to Heaven, and say with "unpresumptuous smile," "I am at peace with G.o.d."

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

20TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."--REV. xiv. 13.

Bliss in Dying.

My Soul! is this blessedness thine in prospect? Art thou ready, if called this night to lie down on thy death-pillow, sweetly to fall asleep in Jesus? What is the sting of death? It is sin. Is death, then, to thee, robbed of its sting, by having listened to the gracious accents of pardoning love, "Be of good cheer, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee?" If thou hast made up thy peace with G.o.d, resting on the work and atoning blood of His dear Son, then is the Last Enemy divested of all his terror, and thou canst say, in sweet composure, of thy dying couch and dying hour,--"I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, because Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell in safety!" Reader! ponder that solemn question, "Am I ready to die? Am I living as I should wish I had done when that last hour arrives?" And when shall it arrive? To-morrow is not thine. "Verily, there may be but a step between thee and death."

Oh! solve the question speedily,--risk no doubts and no peradventure.

Every day is proclaiming anew the lesson, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." Seek to live, so that that hour cannot come upon thee too soon, or too unexpectedly. Live a dying life! How blessed to live,--how blessed to die, with the consciousness, that there may be but a step between thee and glory!

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

21ST DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."--GAL. vi. 9.

A Due Reaping.

Believer! all the glory of thy salvation belongs to Jesus,--none to thyself; every jewel in thine eternal crown is His,--purchased by His blood, and polished by His Spirit. The confession of time will be the ascription of all eternity: "By the grace of G.o.d I am what I am!" But though "all be of grace," thy G.o.d calls thee to personal strenuousness in the work of thy high calling;--to "labour," to "fight," to "wrestle,"

to "_agonize_;" and the heavenly reaping will be in proportion to the earthly sowing: "He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully!" What an incentive to holy living, and increased spiritual attainments! My soul!

wouldst thou be a star shining high and bright in the firmament of glory?--wouldst thou receive the ten-talent recompense? Then be not weary. Gird on thine armour for fresh conquests. Be gaining daily some new victory over sin. Deny thyself. Be a willing cross-bearer for thy Lord's sake. Do good to all men as thou hast opportunity; be patient under provocation, "slow to wrath," resigned in trial. Let the world take knowledge of thee that thou art wearing Christ's livery, and bearing Christ's spirit, and sharing Christ's cross. And when the reaping time comes, He who has promised that the cup of cold water cannot go unrecompensed, will not suffer thee to lose thy reward!

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

22D DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"The days of thy mourning shall be ended."--ISAIAH lx. 20.

An End of Weeping.

Christ's people are a weeping band, though there be much in this lovely world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin--their own sin, and the unblushing sins of a world in which their G.o.d is dishonoured--need we wonder at their tears?--that they should be called "Mourners," and their pilgrimage-home a "Valley of Tears?" Bereavement, and sickness, and poverty, and death, following the track of sin, add to their mourning experience; and with many of G.o.d's best beloved, one tear is scarce dried when another is ready to flow! Mourners! rejoice! When the reaping time comes, the weeping time ends! When the white robe and the golden harp are bestowed, every remnant of the sackcloth attire is removed. The moment the pilgrim, whose forehead is here furrowed with woe, bathes it in the crystal river of life,--that moment the pangs of a lifetime of sorrow are eternally forgotten! Reader! if thou art one of these careworn ones, the days of thy mourning are numbered! A few more throbbings of this aching heart, and then the angel who proclaims "time," shall proclaim also, sorrow, and sighing, and mourning, to "be no longer!" Seek now to mourn thy sins more than thy sorrows; reserve thy bitterest tears for forgetfulness of thy dear Lord. The saddest and sorest of all bereavements, is when the sins which have separated thee from Him, evoke the anguish-cry, "Where is my G.o.d?"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

23D DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"Behold, I come quickly."--REV. iii. 11.