Quiet Talks on Following the ChristGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks on Following the Christ
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Christian life; Devotional literature
Years ago, a young Jewess, of a wealthy family, that stood high in the
Jewry of New York, heard the call of the despised Nazarene. It came to her
with great, gentle power, and she decided that she must follow. Her father
was very angry, and threatened disinheritance if she so disgraced the
family. But she remained quietly, gently, inflexibly, true to her
decision. At last the father planned a social occasion at the home to
which large numbers were invited. And he said to his daughter, "You must
sing at this reception, and make this your disavowal of the Christian
faith." And she quietly said, "Father, I will sing."
The evening came, the parlours were filled, the time came for her to sing,
and all listened eagerly, for they knew the beauty of her voice. With her
heart in both eyes and voice, she began singing:
"Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought, and hoped, and known:
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are all my own."
And she passed out into the night of disinheritance on earth, "into an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." This
was her decision. She had seen _His face!_ All else paled in its light.
Shall we go, too?
Finger-Posts
The Parable of the Finger-Posts.
Waiting is harder work than working. It takes more out of you. And it puts
more into you, too, of fine-grained, steady strength, if you can stand the
strain of it. And if, to the waiting is added perplexity, the pull upon
your strength is much greater. It is harder to hold steady, and not break.
And if the thing you've put your very life into seems at stake, that taxes
the wearing power of your strength to the utmost.
Such a time, and just such a test, came to the little band of disciples
after the resurrection, and before the ascension. The story of it is told
in that added chapter of John's Gospel. You remember that last chapter is
one of the added touches. The Gospel is finished with the finish of the
twentieth chapter. Then John is led by the Spirit, to add something more.
That added chapter becomes to us like an acted parable, the parable of the
added touch. There is always the added touch, the extra touch of power, of
love, of answer to prayer. Our Lord has a way of giving more. The prayer
itself is answered, and then some added touch is given for full measure.
So it is in all His dealings, when He is allowed to have His own way. He
is the Lord of the added touch. He does exceeding abundantly above what we
ask, or think, or expect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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