Morning, September 5
Go To Evening Reading
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of
Kedar.”
Psalm 120:5
As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world,
and it is of little use for you to cry “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and
what he did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the Lord’s strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify him in it. The enemy
is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore
very holy . Remember that the eyes of all are upon you, and that more is expected
from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame.
Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like
Daniel, compel them to say of you, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find
it against him concerning the law of his God.” Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, “If I were in a more favourable position I might serve the Lord’s cause, but I cannot do any good where I am”; but the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need
have they of your exertions; if they be crooked, the more necessity
that you should set them straight; and if they be perverse, the more
need have you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should
the physician be but where there are many sick? Where is honour to
be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle? And when
weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider
that all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried
on beds of down to heaven, and you must not expect to travel more
easily than they. They had to hazard their lives unto the death in
the high places of the field, and you will not be crowned till you
also have endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore,
“stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.”