October 1929
472
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
resistance is weakened; the germs of worry and distrac tion find easy access to carry oUt their devasting work. I recall meeting a godly woman, the wife of a rancher, who always had an enormous amount of work to do, yet always did it with dispatch. During harvesting, work doubled because of additional laborers on the ranch, but it troubled her not. The secret, you ask? She had learned of Him. Her husband, in a burst of enthusiasm, confided to me that throughout the years of their married life he had heard not one angry word fall from her lips. To look into her face one realized that she had found the peace Christ left for those who seek it. “Cumbered about”! The knell of spiritual death! Serving! Serving! Serving! What? Invariably the body. Longstaff speaks of our need thus r Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord.
develop those eternal characteristics necessary for the heavenly occupant. We have reversed God’s order, per mitting work to become a curse. Let us examine the evil of it. It proclaims that the needs of the body are paramount to the needs of the soul. The Word of God places the emphasis upon the spirit, for we are primarily spiritual beings despite modern philosophy to the contrary. Paul had this in mind when he counseled the Corinthians regarding marriage. It was honorable^ but could become distracting, for the husband thought upon ways to please his wife, and vice versa, i.e., the dan ger was always present of overemphasizing the body and bodily comforts, rather than the spirit. The body is sec ondary, a means for expression, a tabernacle destined to be blown away by the winds of death, and as such it should hold a lesser place in our thinking. If the body receives first attention then it will assert itself to the detriment of the spirit. Martha came suddenly upon the Lord and Mary, in a petulant mood. Her spirit was frayed with the distraction of it all. No man will deny that Jesus Christ was the busiest Man that ever lived, always upon the path of service, giving Himself in unremitting toil for others, yet, through it all, possessing a calm unruffled spirit, because He cared for the needs of the spirit. Again, to live such a life blinds us to the claims of others, especially their spiritual needs. In Martha’s esti mation Mary was misusing her time, she should have been helping with the eggs and fishes. Velasquez admirably brings this out in his picture. The maid reflects her mis tress’s petulancy upon her own countenance. The spirit of distraction is a great enemy to the claims of others. Christian families are upset by it. The fathers are so rushed with their work that they have no time for the spiritual needs of their children, and then wonder why the children follow in the footsteps of some other. Con sider that it blinds us to the claims of God. One day in seven belongs to Him. Does He get it? One-tenth of the money we are slaving to hoard belongs to Him. Does He get that? Such a person is “too busy” to think of the claims of the mission field on his time and money. The third and perhaps the greatest evil is that it blinds to one’s own need. Martha was blind to the fact that “one thing was needful.’1 Matthew Henry rightly said: “Worldly business is then a snare to us when it hinders us from serving God and getting good to our souls.” What was this “one thing” which Martha so greatly needed? “Oneness,” in opposition to distraction. We hear much regarding the blessings which ensue from a “unified personality,” wherein body, soul and spirit work -together harmoniously. A personality in which the body fulfils its function in expressing the spiritual, not crushing it. Psychology points out the need but is dumb regarding the source for satisfying it. We have it here. Mary had found it. To live a happy normal life we must learn of Christ. Many try to excuse Martha by asserting that it was her natural disposition to be thus troubled. We agree. It was to remedy this that Christ came. The natural must give place to the spiritual if the personality is to be harmonized. It is time we called a halt to the despotic activities of the flesh, and thought along God’s method, viz., in putting first things first, for only in so doing shall we learn to master self and circumstances and live the life abundant. This law is inwrought within our beings; we are fun damentally spiritual, created in God’s image. To deny it leads to spiritual suicide. Our spirit cannot exist upon the starvation diet meted out to it, and as a result spiritual
Abide in Him always, And trust in His Word. . Make friends of God’s children, Help those who are weak, Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. Take time to be holy, The world rushes on. Spend much time in secret With Jesus alone. By looking to Jesus Like Him thou shalt be. Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
S PEAKING of a certain lecturer, one remarked, “I never listened to anyone who could give you so many precious truths in such a short space of time. He could say as much in ten minutes as others could in an hour.” “Right you are,” answered a bystander, and then added, “I always think when listening to him that he gives one the whole wheat without the chaff.” “That is a good way of expressing it; as you were Speaking I could not help thinking of a two hours’ dis course I listened to recently, where there was practically nothing but chaff and perhaps worse,” said a third party. “Yes, that is true; we often get worse than chaff, which is simply waste, while dangerous seed often gets in with the wheat,” said the first speaker. I am sure that we all might agree with the remarks of these people, and it should teach us the much-needed lesson to be careful of wasting our words, remembering that we are not only wasting our own time but also the time of those who are listening to us. We should be like the wise farmer, who separates the chaff from the wheat before he offers it for sale. A few words, carefully and prayerfully chosen, may accomplish infinitely more than a multitude—a long dis course carelessly spoken. It is a wonderful thing to be as a refreshing well of water to the thirsty ones we come in contact with in the daily walk of life. And this is just what we ought to be, and can be, if we are connected with the Source of living water. Will Carleton expresses it thus : Boys flying kites, haul in their white-winged birds; You can’t do this when you are flying words. “Careful with fire” is good advice, we know. “Careful with words” is ten times doubly so. Thoughts unexpressed, may sometimes fall back dead; But God Himself can’t kill them, when they are sped. — E. D. Hooey.
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