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T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
w h at he has done for us and we gath er about it in remembrance of him in obedience to his command. SATURDAY, March 22. 1 Kings 18:30. 39. The Decision on Mt. Carmel The spectacular challenge of E lijah to Israel when the fire fell from heaven brought an imm ediate response from 'th e people. Any hesitancy or relu ct ance they m ight have felt was swept away by th e m ighty m iracle. Unani mously and unreservedly they pledged th e ir allegiance and obedience to Jeho vah. Man differs from th e b ru tes in having a power of choice w ith refer ence to moral ends. God him self waits', upon th e action of th e -human will. He I will no t invade th e sacred precincts of th a t sovereignty which he has created, th e freedom of choice. As sin is essen tially insubordination, salvation m ust come th rough a reversal of th e process and th e subm ission of th e will to God. Since a m oral being is a free agent he cannot be coerced. W hat is no t volun ta ry is valueless in th e sigh t of God. The hundreds of choices a man makes in a single day may each have a moral quality, :their character being d eter m ined by a back-lying fundam ental choice of God th a t gives ben t and bias to th e whole being. God’s choice of us lays hold of us, th rough our choice of, him. SUNDAY, March 23. Psalm 3. A Prayer for Deliverance I t is instinctive for man to tu rn to God in tim e of trouble. Even an avowed ath eist h as been known to say “God help me” in danger. Happy are they who know w hat to say and w hat to do when trouble comes! - The pray ers of S cripture are so manifold and diverse th a t one can find language somewhere exactly suited to his need. It is a g reat advantage to have th a t fam iliarity w ith S cripture th a t will enable one to employ S crip tu ral lan guage in giving expression to the desires and needs of th e h eart. This im parts a sense of access and satisfac tion in prayer th a t is a rea l aid to devo tion. I t is vastly edifying to h ea r ano ther pray who uses th e language of Scripture as a vehicle in addressing God. T rue prayer is a dialogue between th e soul and God. God speaks to us th rough his Word. We ought to give him g rea ter opportunity for doing so
The good are th e tru ly w ise ., The sin ner is a fool. The various chapters are both h o rtato ry and admonitory. The au th o r inveighs ag ain st unfilial con duct, intemperance, sensuality, conten tion, lying, slothfulness and pride. Many of these evils are traced to bad company as a fru itfu l producing cause. The wise man waves th e red flag of warning before every youth whose feet are tu rn ed tow ard th e precipice. THURSDAY, March 20. Judges 3:1-8. Results of Evil Companionships The Canaanites who, no t driven out of the land, became a snare and a stum bling block to Israel. By reason of th e ir proxim ity, th e ir presence became endurable and th en desirable. They trad ed w ith one ano th er and fin ally in term arried and lived together. The C anaanites were no t converted to the religion of Israel by th is union, b u t Israel adopted th e ways of th e Canaan ites and became idolatrous and corrupt, Israel lo st h er distinct testim ony as a nation and God allowed her to go into captivity to th e king of Mesopotam ia as a punishm ent for h er sins. Compro mise is S atan ’s m aster device. HJs favorite word is federate. God’s word is separate. 2 Cor. 6:14-18. The sin g le e y e is essential to clear vision. The sharp line of cleavage which God has draw n between th e church and th e world m ust no t be ignored nor effaced. Sp iritual power and pu rity are lost when the church lowers her stand ard s by adopting worldly policies and methods. FRIDAY, March 21. Joshua 24:14-23. A Call to Decision The closing scenes in Jo sh u a’s life are somewhat sim ilar to those in Moses’ career as he gathered th e congregation ^together and solemnly charged them to be tru e and faith fu l to Jehovah. A fter summ arizing th e ir histo ry and recount ing th e ir manifold blessings, Joshua appealed to th e people to show th e ir zeal for God, closing w ith his own unique and splendid testimony, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Inspired and encouraged by his example, th e people renewed and ratified th e ir covenant vows. Joshua memorialized th e occasion hy erecting a monum ent to keep th e ir obligations in mind. The more rem inders of what we owe to God th a t we have th e better. The Lord’s tab le is our memorial of
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