198 out for Samaria. What journeys hare been undertaken, what fortunes have been expended before now, in quest of health! O, that men would manifest the same solicitude for their spiritual well-being! Naaman’s sinful heart was more dangerous than his leprous body although he did not know it. The king of Israel was dismayed at the request of the letter. Naturally he supposed that the Syrians were seeking another quarrel. There are many today who are knocking at the wrong door for healing and help. To expect spiritual relief from anti-Christian sources and systems is a. forlorn hope indeed. Jer. 2:13, 22. WEDNESDAY, February 15. 2 Kings 5:10-14. The Leper Healed. No one is ever saved in the way he expected. All our preconceived no tions are swept away by the reality. Wrath is a more hopeful condition than indifference. When the preacher sends his hearers away gnashing their teeth and shaking their fists at him, there is more hope that the sermon will accom plish something than if they went out in smiling unconcern, saying, “ What a beautiful sermon!” The conditions im posed by the Gospel may humble our pride and arouse our resentment but to resist and refuse is to be lost. Naa- man went down in a double sense. He descended from the heights of his self- complacency and pride and he went down into the despised waters of the Jordan. : Happy are they who have good advisers and thrice happy are they who have sense enough to follow good advice. THURSDAY, February 16. 2 Kings 5- 15-19. - s Naaman’s Gratitude. Naaman would have been the tenth leper in Luke 17:18, who returned to give glory to God. He turned back to give a present to Elisha but the proph et would take nothing. Then follows the story of Gehazi’s sin and punish ment. His besetting sin was covetous ness and to this he added deception, theft and falsehood. . His sin shows how men may go from the place and presence of the holy to the depths of infamy, Eccl. 8:10. We often wonder if the nine lepers who did not return to give thanks retained their healing. It would serve them right if they did not. Ingratitude is a base requital for
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blessings received. How frequently the Word of God exhorts us to give thanks! Missionaries have discovered a heathen language in which there is no word expressing thanks. The near est approach to it is an expression meaning “ This will be useful to me.” “ Be not ye therefore like unto them.” Thanks-living is the best thanks-giving. FRIDAY, February 17. Luke 4:16-27. The Great Healer. The miracles of healing which our Saviour wrought were for the most part the out-flow of His compassionate heart, rather than evidential signs of His Messianic claims. “ Being moved with compassion, He healed them all.” A leper once came to Jesus saying, “ Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” There was no doubt of His ability. Jesus immediately set all doubt aside as to His willingness by replying, “ I will; be thou clean.” It is more dishonoring to doubt the disposition of the Saviour than His power. We might blame a man who had the power to do good and would not use it. We would love a man who wanted to do good but was prevented by limitations that he could not overcome. Christ is both able and willing to save. His omnipotence is impulsed by infinite love. SATURDAY, February 18. Col. 8 t i l l . A Brotherhood of Love. Christianity is cosmopolitan. I t knows no exclusiveness or caste. It is a religion of brotherhood and love. It declares that God made of one blood all nations of men. It believes that all hu man beings are of equal worth in the sight of God, that they have an equal capacity of pleasure and pain, good and evil. It is the antidote to racial preju dice and hatred. Elisha, Naaman and the little Syrian maid have a message to the world of living, giving and serv ing that the world torn with suspicion, distrust and hate needs above all else. In ancient times the words “ stranger” and “ enemy” were synonyms. The op probrious and scornful terms, “ dago,” “ sheeny,” “ chink” and “ dinge” are bar red and banned by the Christian tem per. “ The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psa. 145:9. SUNDAY, February 19. 1 Cor. 1:18- 31. The Weak Things of the World. There are seven weak things in the
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