"Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn." — Ruth 2:2
Downcast and troubled Christian, come and glean to-day in the broad field of promise. Here are abundance of precious promises, which exactly meet thy wants. Take this one: "He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." Doth not that suit thy case? A reed, helpless, insignificant, and weak, a bruised reed, out of which no music can come; weaker than weakness itself; a reed, and that reed bruised, yet, He will not break thee; but on the contrary, will restore and strengthen thee. Thou art like the smoking flax: no light, no warmth, can come from thee; but He will not quench thee; He will blow with His sweet breath of mercy till He fans thee to a flame.
Wouldst thou glean another ear? "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." What soft words! Thy heart is tender, and the Master knows it, and therefore He speaketh so gently to thee. Wilt thou not obey Him, and come to Him even now? Take another ear of corn: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." How canst thou fear with such a wonderful assurance as this?
Thou mayest
gather ten thousand such golden ears as these! "I have blotted out thy sins
like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thy transgressions." Or this, "Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool." Or this, "The Spirit and the Bride
say, Come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let him
take the water of life freely." Our Master's field is very rich; behold the
handfuls. See, there they lie before thee, poor timid believer! Gather them
up, make them thine own, for Jesus bids thee take them. Be not afraid,
only believe! Grasp these sweet promises, thresh them out by meditation
and feed on them with joy.
"Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness." — Psalm 65:11
All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; both when we sleep and when we wake His mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave us a legacy of darkness, but our God never ceases to shine upon His children with beams of love. Like a river, His lovingkindness is always flowing, with a fulness inexhaustible as His own nature. Like the atmosphere which constantly surrounds the earth, and is always ready to support the life of man, the benevolence of God surrounds all His creatures; in it, as in their element, they live, and move, and have their being.
Yet as the sun on summer days gladdens us with beams more warm
and bright than at other times, and as rivers are at certain seasons swollen
by the rain, and as the atmosphere itself is sometimes fraught with more
fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than heretofore, so is it with
the mercy of God; it hath its golden hours; its days of overflow, when the
Lord magnifieth His grace before the sons of men. Amongst the blessings
of the nether springs, the joyous days of harvest are a special season of
excessive favour. It is the glory of autumn that the ripe gifts of providence
are then abundantly bestowed; it is the mellow season of realization,
whereas all before was but hope and expectation.
Great is the joy of harvest. Happy are the reapers who fill their arms with the liberality of heaven. The Psalmist tells us that the harvest is the crowning of the year. Surely these crowning mercies call for crowning thanksgiving! Let us render it by the inward emotions of gratitude. Let our hearts be warmed; let our spirits remember, meditate, and think upon this goodness of the Lord. Then let us praise Him with our lips, and laud and magnify His name from whose bounty all this goodness flows. Let us glorify God by yielding our gifts to His cause. A practical proof of our gratitude is a special thank-offering to the Lord of the harvest.