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Steps to Christ
The most gorgeous attire produced by the skill of art cannot bear
comparison with the natural grace and radiant beauty of the flowers
of God’s creation. Jesus asks, “If God so clothe the grass of the field,
which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
Matthew 6:28, 30
. If God, the
divine Artist, gives to the simple flowers that perish in a day their
delicate and varied colors, how much greater care will He have for
those who are created in His own image? This lesson of Christ’s is a
rebuke to the anxious thought, the perplexity and doubt, of the faithless
heart.
The Lord would have all His sons and daughters happy, peaceful,
and obedient. Jesus says, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid.” “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might
remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
John 14:27
;
15:11
.
Happiness that is sought from selfish motives, outside of the path of
duty, is ill-balanced, fitful, and transitory; it passes away, and the soul
is filled with loneliness and sorrow; but there is joy and satisfaction in
the service of God; the Christian is not left to walk in uncertain paths;
he is not left to vain regrets and disappointments. If we do not have
the pleasures of this life we may still be joyful in looking to the life
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beyond.
But even here Christians may have the joy of communion with
Christ; they may have the light of His love, the perpetual comfort of
His presence. Every step in life may bring us closer to Jesus, may
give us a deeper experience of His love, and may bring us one step
nearer to the blessed home of peace. Then let us not cast away our
confidence, but have firm assurance, firmer than ever before. “Hitherto
hath the Lord helped us,” and He will help us to the end.
1 Samuel
7:12
. Let us look to the monumental pillars, reminders of what the
Lord has done to comfort us and to save us from the hand of the
destroyer. Let us keep fresh in our memory all the tender mercies that
God has shown us,—the tears He has wiped away, the pains He has
soothed, the anxieties removed, the fears dispelled, the wants supplied,
the blessings bestowed,—thus strengthening ourselves for all that is
before us through the remainder of our pilgrimage.
We cannot but look forward to new perplexities in the coming
conflict, but we may look on what is past as well as on what is to