EZEKIEL xxxiv. 23-31.
When the Good Shepherd has charge of His flock "_the wild beasts will cease out of the land_." All beastly passions shall be destroyed. The fair gardens of our souls shall no longer be ravaged by sleek pride, or fierce appetite, or ravenous lust. "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 God. Our very garden becomes our helpmeet when we are cultivating the fruits of the Spirit. The heavens assume 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 assurance of the companionship of our God. "_This shall they know, that I, the Lord their God, am with them._" And in that precious assurance every other treasure is found! Only be sure of that, and we shall walk about as kings and queens!
JANUARY the Twenty-first
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 thorny scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and thorny 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