Evening, March 22
Go To Morning Reading
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am.”
John 17:24
O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches
weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the
earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use
it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightest be thanked then.
But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine
axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites
the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful,
the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is through Jesus’ prevailing prayer—“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am.” It is that which bears them on eagle’s wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to
paradise, it is an answer to Christ’s prayer. A good old divine remarks, “Many times Jesus and his people pull against one another in prayer.
You bend your knee in prayer and say ‘Father, I will that thy saints be with me where I am;’ Christ says, ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am.’” Thus the disciple is at cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot
be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with
you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice;
if the King should step from his throne, and say, “Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which
shall be answered?” Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet,
and say, “Jesus, not my will, but thine be done.” You would give up your prayer for your loved one’s life, if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in
the opposite direction—“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am.” Lord, thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.