T h e . K i x g ’ s
B. u s t n e s s
July 1927
467
J uly 27. “He was heard, on account of his piety"f^Heb. 5:7. . THERE are three things which wë may learn from Christ’s prayer in the garden (see July 26). The first is that true piety consists in putting the will of God above all else. Not only above our own desires, but before and beyond all our preconceived Con ceptions of what His purposes may be. Christ had come to re deem the world—upon that all His heart was set—there could, surely, be no higher necessityJ|n the universe ' than that that should be accomplished ! Yes, there was one higher ; the neces sity that, whatever it might be, the Father’s will should be done. Submission to the Divine will-ryabsolute, unquestioning sub mission;—that is perfect' piety. Then we may learn, further, that such piety is the secrét of answered prayer : “He was heard on account of his piety.” God may, and often does, answer the prayers of those who can lay no claim to such devo tion as that; He must, and will;'.answer those who are fully sub mitted to His purposes. And: yet again, we learn that no fear need ever disturb us that our strength will not be; sufficient for the performance of the duty, be it what it may, which has been laid upon us by God. It would have been a great triumph for the Devil had he been able to rob Jesus of Nazareth of His life ere He had offered the gréât sacrifice for the salvation of the world. Such a triumph was impossible. Whenever God entrusts a man with a mission, He always gives him life long enough, and strength sufficient, for the fulfilment of the task. THEY had toiled all night,and caught nothing. Peter did not believe, in his heart, that there was the least ,use in trying, at any rate on that spot, any longer. Nevertheless, because His Master Whom he loved, commanded it, he was ready to let down the net once more. Here is a lesson for the Christian worker of all ages. The supreme question is not how long we have toiled in one particular direction in vain, nor yet what are the prospects of success or the seeming certainties of failure; all we have to ask is, What is the will and commandment of our Lord? With the results we have nothing to do. Our business in life is to obey orders; the consequences are the responsibility of Him by Whom those orders are issued. We should never despair of any heart or of any locality. All through the long black night of “failure” we have toiled, as it seems, to no purpose; let us go on casting in the net, if He bids it—the morning of “success” may be close at hand. . “Cast the net on the right side of the ship,” said Christ on a similar, but subsequent occasion (Jno. 21:3-6). We need not only Christ’s command, but His presence and His direction, when we go a fishing for the souls of men. Self-directed, our ;efforts are almost sure to be unavailing; divinely guided, the labor will fill our nets with spoil and our hearts with joy. -1B WEB.- gy» J uly 29. “They helped . . . and said . . . Be of good courage.” Isa. 41:6: WHAT a world of help there is in a word of cheer! Some people’s chief aim in life appears to be that of making their fel low creatures as uncomfortable as possible. They have always some tale of woe to tell, some prophecy of disaster to utter. They dwell upon all the details of the latest horror as though they were the sweetest morsels. They pour discouragement upon you as though it were the very elixir of life. Such people, how ever unconsciously, do incalulable harm. No doubt “the world is very evil,” but we need not help to turn it into “a vale of J uly 28. . “Nevertheless, at thyword, I, will.’’—Luke 5:5.
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