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“Thy way, not mine, O Lord, Having found the Light of God and having tasted of the Love of Jesus Christ, we pour out our hearts and lives in thankfulness to God for H is many mercies and His saving Grace through our Redeemer. There are many things for which we must give God thanks. All about us are the numerous evidences of His handiwork, and within us are the realities of His redeeming Love. We feel the impact of the power of God without and within, and we know it as much a part of life as the bread we eat. Forsake this God - go away from Him - and you are lost. The prodigal son, far away form his home, felt the terrible loneliness of being alone with sin. In his moment of despair he thought of his Fathers house. With deep sorrow for his sin he turned towards home, thankful that he had a home to which he could go. He sought no longer the former state of sonship, but was thankful to enter in as a servant that he might enjoy again the protection and love that his Father had to give. How wonderful it is to return to the Father’s House and to know that we are welcome! As long as the Father’s House remains there will be a place of refuge and forgiveness for those who truly repent and turn unto God. But then, how many of us are like the son who had not gone away. He had taken all his goodly heritage for granted. He had not considered it worth giving thanks for; at least he had not realized his favoured position until he had been rudely awakened to the fact by the celebrations over the return of his brother, and the kind reminder of hid Father when he said. “Son, all that I have is thine, for thou are ever with me”. We live in a pleasant land, and enjoy a fair measure of success. Our tables are well spread, our children well dressed, our neighbours friendly, and there are many more blessings too numerous to number, and yet how often we just take these things for granted. A moment’s reflection on this will certainly awaken within us a sense of deep gratitude to God for all we have and hold. And crowning all our gifts so dear to us is the gift of Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The sum total is so great that we can only say-
“When all
Thy mercies, O my God, 3. - Worship is Self-Consecration At a Christian celebration on the west coast of Africa a few years ago, when converted natives brought of their meager possessions to show their devotion to Christ, a young girl only recently saved from paganism brought a silver coin worth about 85c, and handed this to the missionary as her gift to the Saviour. The good man was astounded at the size of the offering, and hesitated to accept it, supposing it had been obtained dishonestly; but when he delicately asked for an explanation of this lavish gift, the convert told him that she had gone to a neighbouring planter and bound herself out to him as a slave foe the rest of her life for ths coin. Thus she brought the whole monetary equivalent of her life and placed it as a single gift at the feet of her Lord. This is the kind of consecration which Jesus expects of those who have sworn eternal fealty to Him. It is not our duty to enslave ourselves to any human master. It is our rare privilege to dedicate ourselves and our substance entirely to our Lord. Worship brings us into that frame of mind and heart and we feel the necessity of God consecrating us to His service. It is ain this moment of completer surrender that we can really sing,
“Consecrate me
now to Thy service, Lord, 4. - Worship is Prayer and Praise It is by prayer that we commune with God, and by praise that we express our love for Him. There is power in prayer, a kind of power that causes the work of Salvation to be begun. Mr. Moody tells us of a remarkable incident in connection with an early visit to London. He had gone there for a visit. He was unknown in London, and so he did not expect to preach; but a little while after arriving there he was invited to preach for a certain church, and so he did. He said it was a very cold and uninteresting service to him, but he announced that he would preach again that night. Upon reaching the church he noticed that the atmosphere had changed, but did not know just why. At the close of the meeting he was led to give an invitation to those who wanted to be saved to stand. A great crowd of people stood. He left next day for Dublin, Ireland. Shortly after arricing there he received a telegram form the church to return, stating that the whole community was in aa upstir and clamour for a series of meetings. He went back and found that a great revival was beginning, and hundreds of people were being converted. Not long after that he learned the secret. An invalid lady, who could not attend the church, was praying for a mighty outpouring upon the church. She prayed for months. Once she saw in the papers accounts of some of the Moody meetings in America, and, although she had never heard of Mr. Moody before, she began to pray that God would send him to her church in London for a revival. One Sunday morning her sister, upon her return from the service, informed her of Moody’s presence and his preaching; whereupon she spent the whole afternoon in prayer that God would make that night a night of power, That explains the difference between the morning and evening services! Prayer offered in faith will undoubtedly have its reward.
“Praise, my soul, the King of
heaven;
Angels, help us to
adore Him; |
