"O Lord, teach me what those Scriptures mean that I may obey them.
Save me from the bias of self-interest. Help me to live by the
understanding I had with Thee at the outset of our walk together. What
may I do to please Thee? My time and my energies are Thine, for I am
bought with a price. Thou seest my possessions. What shall I do with
them?"
He lifted his head with a lightened heart. "He will show me what to
do," he thought.
That day at lunch Hubert propounded a question to his father.
"Father," said he, "what do you think Jesus meant by saying, 'Sell that
ye have and give alms?'"
Mr. Gray reflected. "Hm!" he observed, "eh--well--" then, with a sly
twinkle as though rather enjoying a coat that fitted tightly, "it
doesn't sound very obscure, does it? The language is simple. What
would you think it meant?"
"That is a point I am studying. If a man came to it without prejudice
or self-interest, it would seem very simple, I imagine. But I am not
sure that it should be pressed to absolute literalness. But, granted
that it means _something_, was it of limited application, or would
Christ say the same thing to His followers to-day?"
"Well," said Mr. Gray, whose theological studies had been greatly
stimulated in recent months, and who had fallen into the hands of a
variety of teachers, "you know some people draw pretty fine
distinctions now-a-days. They may tell us that that does not belong to
the church. I shouldn't wonder a bit if some of them would slip this
over our heads and let it fall on some other people. But I should say,
if you ask me, that such a principle, if it applied to anybody, might
certainly to us; that if heavenly-mindeduess could be enjoined upon any
it might certainly upon those who are raised and seated with Christ in
heavenly places.'"
"I think you are right, father. But now, just what is the
principle--what is the true spirit of the text? In short, what are we
_to do_ about it?"
Mr. Gray looked at his son curiously before replying. Was it for the
sake of _doing the word_ that he pondered its meaning? To expound a
text and to act upon it were two separate things. The former was
sometimes the pleasanter task. But he answered honestly:
"I suppose the true way to understand a Scripture is to read it in its
relation to other Scripture--in the light of every other Scripture. I
confess I have not so studied it. And," he added cautiously, "one must
be very sure of the meaning of a word before he acts upon it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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