September 17 - Morning"Bring him unto me." — Mark 9:19
Despairingly the poor disappointed father turned away from the disciples
to their Master. His son was in the worst possible condition, and all means
had failed, but the miserable child was soon delivered from the evil one
when the parent in faith obeyed the Lord Jesus' word, "Bring him unto
me." Children are a precious gift from God, but much anxiety comes with
them. They may be a great joy or a great bitterness to their parents; they
may be filled with the Spirit of God, or possessed with the spirit of evil.
In all cases, the Word of God gives us one receipt for the curing of all their ills, "Bring him unto me."
O for more agonizing prayer on their behalf while they are yet babes! Sin is there, let our prayers begin to attack it. Our cries for our offspring should precede those cries which betoken their actual advent into a world of sin. In the days of their youth we shall see sad tokens of that dumb and deaf spirit which will neither pray aright, nor hear the voice of God in the soul, but Jesus still commands, "Bring them unto me." When they are grown up they may wallow in sin and foam with enmity against God; then when our hearts are breaking we should remember the great Physician's words, "Bring them unto me." Never must we cease to pray until they cease to breathe. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives.
The Lord sometimes suffers His people to be driven into a corner that
they may experimentally know how necessary He is to them. Ungodly
children, when they show us our own powerlessness against the depravity
of their hearts, drive us to flee to the strong for strength, and this is a great
blessing to us. Whatever our morning's need may be, let it like a strong
current bear us to the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our
sorrow, He delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to Him while He waits to
meet us. September 17 - Evening"Encourage him." — Deuteronomy 1:38
God employs His people to encourage one another. He did not say to an
angel, "Gabriel, my servant Joshua is about to lead my people into Canaan
— go, encourage him." God never works needless miracles; if His purposes
can be accomplished by ordinary means, He will not use miraculous
agency. Gabriel would not have been half so well fitted for the work as
Moses. A brother's sympathy is more precious than an angel's embassy.
The angel, swift of wing, had better known the Master's bidding than the
people's temper. An angel had never experienced the hardness of the road,
nor seen the fiery serpents, nor had he led the stiff-necked multitude in the
wilderness as Moses had done. We should be glad that God usually works
for man by man. It forms a bond of brotherhood, and being mutually
dependent on one another, we are fused more completely into one family.
Brethren, take the text as God's message to you. Labour to help others,
and especially strive to encourage them. Talk cheerily to the young and
anxious enquirer, lovingly try to remove stumblingblocks out of his way.
When you find a spark of grace in the heart, kneel down and blow it into a
flame. Leave the young believer to discover the roughness of the road by
degrees, but tell him of the strength which dwells in God, of the sureness
of the promise, and of the charms of communion with Christ. Aim to
comfort the sorrowful, and to animate the desponding. Speak a word in
season to him that is weary, and encourage those who are fearful to go on
their way with gladness. God encourages you by His promises; Christ
encourages you as He points to the heaven He has won for you, and the
spirit encourages you as He works in you to will and to do of His own will
and pleasure. Imitate divine wisdom, and encourage others, according to
the word of this evening. September 17 |