THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Thursday, August 16 . Rom. 12 : 13 .
the humility of love: We are not to set our minds upon the high things, but rather are “to be carried away with (this is the exact force of the Greek word translated “condescend to”) things that are lowly.” Oh, how loath we are to be carried away with the humble things, we all want the high and exalted things; but love is carried away with the lowly place and the lowly things. We must not be wise in our own estimation of ourselves. That is about the only place in which some men are wise. We must have a poor opinion of our own opinions. Saturday, August 18 . Rom. 12 : 17 - 21 . In verse 17 we have the forgiveness of love again, if a man does us evil we are not to pay it back with other evil. And then we have love’s regard for the opinion of others: We are to take thought for things which are “honorable in the sight of all men.” So many people think it a mark of superior spirituality to be entirely indifferent to the opinions of others. It is not .a mark of superiof spirituality, it is a mark of an absence of love. In verse 18 we have the peacableness of love: love that is without hypocrisy, as far as possible, as far as lies in us, cultivates “peace with all men.” Of course it does not compromise with evil, but it seeks to be at peace even with evil men. We are not to avenge an injury done to us, vengeance belongs to God. It is His part, not ours, to revenge the injuries done to His children. But we can safely leave the matter with Him for we have His definite promise, “I will recom pense,^ saith the Lord.” In verses 19 and 20 we have the forgiveness of love for the third time, and love’s trust in God to right its wrongs. If the one who has wronged us is hungry we should not rejoice in his starvation but feed him: There is a good deal of food for thought in this in the pres ent day of international animosities. , If the one who has wronged us is thirsty we should give him to drink. In feeding our hungry enemy and giving drink to our thirsty enemy, we will “heap coals of fire
And now Paul sets forth the generosity of love, “communicating to the necessities of the saints.” It is noteworthy that this comes immediately after the prayerfulness of love, and this is the order of experience (cf. Acts 2:42,44,45 ; 4:31,32,34,35). A praying Christian is a giving Christian, a praying church is a giving church. Let the collector of missionary funds steer clear of a church with a dead prayer meeting. On the other hand, only a giver has power in prayer (1 John 3:17,18,19,21,22). Close ly connected with this are the next words, “given to hospitality.” Here we have the hospitality of love, a Christian grace that is largely out of date. Of course many Christians “entertain handsomely,” but is it real “hospitality?” Love of strangers is the root idea of the Greek word so trans lated : love of display is the root idea of much modern “hospitality.” But how many Christians are there today who keep the door open for every servant of Christ and child of God, really such, that comes along? No, we are prone to say, “Let them go to the hotel.” Oh, yes, but it was lucky for Lot down in Sodom that he did not so talk (Gen. 19:1-3; Heb. 13:1,2). Of course there is a great peril of imposition today, but there is a greater peril of ossification of the heart. The Greek word translated “given to” is a far more expressive word than that, it means “pursuing.” We are to go in stern pursuit of hospitality as a hun-„ In verse 14 we have the forgiveness of love: When men persecute us we are to bless them, we are to bless and not curse. In verse 15 we have the sympathy of love: When others rejoice we are to rejoice with them, when others weep we are to weep with them. In verse 16 we have the unity of love; we are to cultivate a mind in harmony with the mind of our fellow- believers. Then in the same verse we have ter seeks his game. Friday, August 17 . Rom. 12 : 14 - 16 .
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