DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 127, 2 May 1925, Page 11

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

PRAYER. O Lord, forgive, wo pray Thoe, and cleanse us ; deepen our hold of Christ our Saviour. ’Help us to apply His example and' precept to all the httlo things of our daily lives as well as to the great crises. And do Thou be near us at all times that wo may bo delivered from ourselves, from the temptations around us, and the weaknesses within. Through Jesus Christ our ’ Cord. Amen, READING. Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. —Jesus Christ. SIR WALTER SCOTT AND THE BIBLE Within this awful volume lies The mystery •of mysteries : Happiest he of human raco To whom God has .given grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch, and learn the way, And better had he ne’er been bom Who reads to doubt, or reads to scorn.” BAPTISMS IN CONGO LAND. Rev. W. H. Ford, an English Baptist Missionary in the Congo, after enumerating the many tilings that are required of a candidate for baptism, writes of a certain sorvico: “In spite of this high standard, hundreds presented themselves, some still children, some men and women, but the largo majority youths, and we wore happy to find 175 fit for church membership. Towards the end of the journey we had arranged for a largo baptismal service in which candidates from two districts should meet. The waters of baptism and the communion table were the meeting places of those who were formerly divided by quarrels.”

CHRISTIANITY. When I was young the shivering defender of religion, as a last resource, wrote to Mr Gladstone, asking him if he still believed in Christianity, and when a postcard came from Hawarden, giving the Deity a testimonial, the poor, timorous Christian picked up heart again. To-day I cannot imagine a single Scotsman asking a politician of any school the favour of a testimonial to God. It is no longer, thinklable. Christianity has emerged from that. A certificate to the Eternal, dated from Criccieth or Bowdlcy. is to-day beyond all imagining. But L never find myself in a pulpit facing a great congregation without wonder: “They are still there, eager to hear any news from the land beyond the ridge; and religion has been slain and buried so often.” ... There is only one explanation: they aro there because they cannot help it. —Dr Norman Maclean, in the Scotsman.

THE VALUE OF FAITH. (By the Rev. T. N. Tattersall, D. 5.0.) “Without faith it. is impossible to please Him.” —Hebrews xi. b. We are all ehidlren of faith, for the adventure of life does not frighten us, though we sail uncharted seas, and none can tell whether we shall reach our desired haven. The future is always in front of us, and we just miss touching it. Never may wo know what the day will bring forth : it is the unexpected that happens. Wo walk by faith, making our plans and brightening our path with hopes, because we believe in to morrow’s sun. We are pilgrims on the march. What sight is to the eye, and sound to the ear. faith is to life: inevitable and indispensable. Some little realise how much religion is to tho religious. Even the red fires of love pale before it, and the pleasures of the world are no more than sun-kissed water soon clouded o’er. Tho soul has its, ecstasies; to walk humbly with God is meat and drink, and nothing else matters. A man’s religion may bring him into bondage: the prison is a palace; it may drive him into the wilderness: “the desert shall rejoice”; it may crown him with thorns: they are better than roses it may impale him on a cross: the cross is kissed. Faith is more than life. The martyr give 3 his body to bo burned that he may keep his soul alive. He can do without everything but his faith. For faith is not a luxury, it is a necessity; it is not accidental, but essential; not an ornament, but a sword. Many regard faith as an exploded superstition; yet even they are not without it. Ihe law of social life is faith. How much of our neighbours have we to take on trust. They talk with us, but do not tell us their secrets. Every man lives in his cwn world, that is liko Ilia neighbour’s, but is not his neighbour’s; things happen to him alone. His voice from heaven may be to hi 3 companions only a roll of thunder; lie shades his eyes before a vision splendid, and they only glance at him in surprise. We aro unknown to our friends because wo do not know ourselves. Never are wd- less alone than when alone, and never are we more solitary than when in a crowd. Islands are united by the sea, and separated by it; the waters are a bridge and a barrier. But we live in society by faith in one another. Even if we lock the door we trust the policeman. The man that hath friends must show himself friendly. Through faith we enter into fellowship. Industry is faith at work We are worth the amount of our. credit the amount of faith traders have in us. Faith is the fount of all reformation. The reformer believes in the betterment of the people, that progress is possible, and that life can be gloriously redeemed Ihe tireless social reformer is a man of tremendous faith. Every wrong he rights is an act of faith; and bis very patience under misunderstanding, abuse, and persecution proclaims his faith. We believe in God.- We cannot look at tho stars, nor breathe the fragrance of the Bowers, nor glance at-the face of a child, nor wonder at the tranquillity of the saint, and not believe in Him. “God hides Himself so wondrously.” Yes; and He reveals Himself so wondrously. “Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” And this is the conclusion of the whole matter: “Ye believe in God,” said Jesus, “believe also in Mo. He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”-