The Greatest Thing In the World and Other AddressesDrummond, Henry
ReligionComparative
The Greatest Thing In the World and Other Addresses
Drummond, Henry
Christian life; Christianity; Love -- Religious aspects
for it. That was all. But He would not make it for them. For one thing
it was not in His plan to make it for them; for another thing, men
were not so planned that it could be made for them; and for yet
another thing, it was a thousand times better that they should make it
for themselves.
That this is the meaning becomes obvious from the wording of the
second sentence: "Learn of me, and ye shall _find_ Rest." Rest, (that
is to say), is not a thing that can be _given_, but a thing to be
_acquired_. It comes not by an act, but by a process. It is not to be
found in a happy hour, as one finds a treasure; but slowly, as one
finds knowledge. It could indeed be no more found in a moment than
could knowledge. A soil has to be prepared for it. Like a fine fruit,
it will grow in one climate, and not in another; at one altitude, and
not at another. Like all growth it will have an orderly development
and mature by slow degrees.
The nature of this slow process Christ clearly defines when He says
we are to achieve Rest by _learning_. "Learn of me," He says, "and ye
shall find rest to your souls."
Now consider the extraordinary
ORIGINALITY OF THIS UTTERANCE.
How novel the connection between these two words "Learn" and "Rest."
How few of us have ever associated them--ever thought that Rest was a
thing to be learned; ever laid ourselves out for it as we would to
learn a language; ever practised it as we would practice the violin?
Does it not show how entirely new Christ's teaching still is to the
world, that so old and threadbare an aphorism should still be so
little known? The last thing most of us would have thought of would
have been to associate _Rest_ with _Work_.
What must one work at? What is that which if duly learned will find
the soul of man in Rest? Christ answers without the least hesitation.
He specifies two things--Meekness and Lowliness. "Learn of me," He
says, "for I am _meek_ and _lowly_ in heart."
Now these two things are not chosen at random. To these
accomplishments, in a special way, Rest is attached. Learn these, in
short, and you have already found Rest. These as they stand are direct
causes of Rest; will produce it at once; cannot but produce it at
once. And if you think for a single moment, you will see how this is
necessarily so, for causes are never arbitrary, and the connection
between antecedent and consequent here and everywhere lies deep in the
nature of things.
What is the connection, then? I answer by a further question.
WHAT ARE THE CHIEF CAUSES OF UNREST?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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