Evening, August 24
Go To Morning Reading
“If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn,
or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that
kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.”
Exodus 22:6
But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the fire-brands
of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men’s souls on a blaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate,
and the result is irretrievable. If such an offender be forgiven,
what grief it will cause him in the retrospect, since he cannot undo
the mischief which he has done! An ill example may kindle a flame
which years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the food of
man is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may
be useful to us to reflect how far we may have been guilty in the
past, and to enquire whether, even in the present, there may not be
evil in us which has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our
relatives, friends, or neighbours.
The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian
church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy
and envy do the devil’s work most effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed,
to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in
and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto
those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for although
we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the chief sufferers
if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed the fire deserve just
censure, but he who first kindles it is most to blame. Discord usually
takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites
and base professors in the church, and away it goes among the righteous,
blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O thou
Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid
and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least
division among thy people.