Devotional Column

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 440, 22 May 1937, Page 2

Devotional Column

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK O God of truth, who knowest whalt we are and what we do; help us to remember we <rre always in Thy presence, and enable us so to direct our thoughts and words and actions that we may serve Thee with ever increasing, sincerilly' and simplicfty, to the honour and glory of Thy name. Amen. \ Prayer There are some plan' s whose l£*ves and flowers fold themselves when the sun goes down, and unfold again when softly touched on the morrow by the sun’s light. In Ithis way do they absorb the warmth and life of the sun, so necessary for thair growth and existence. .Just so in prayer our hearts are open to the Sun of Righteousness, and we are safe from the dangers and difficulties of darkn’ess and grow into- the fullness of the nature of Christ. The Spirit Of The Pharisee The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican it. one of the best known and Iciast understood of the parables of Jesus. Take, for instance, the words of the Pharisee's prayer, “God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are.” In putting these words into the Pharjtee’s mouth- Jesus reveals one of the fundamental weaknesses of human nature, for the mian quite evidently .thought of himself as being superior to other peojip, and wa s no-t conscious of any really serious fault or imperfection in himself. But are not these words true of each one of us Have we not .aid within ourselves "God 1 thank Thee that I am not as other men are?” and we thereby deceive ourserves and merit the condemnation given, to the Pharisee. A great teacher of old said that the precept "Know Thyself” was the first step in spiritual progress. Most of us think we know ourselves but selfknowledge is the rarest of all accomplishments. Human nature has a grtUt faculty for self-deception and most of us are blind to our greatest faults. If anybody doubts this, let him try the experiment of asking some of his friends who know him well, to write down a (Undid analysis of his character. The result would probably be humiliating, but if the experimen l er was big enough to take t in the right spirit it. would be a stepping stone to the eradication of faults of whose existence he might be unconscious. We deceive ourselves more frequently than we deceive other people. The Dominant Purpose “In the melanwhile the disciples prayed to Him, saying, 'Master, eat.’ But Jesus said unto them, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not.’ The disciples therefore said one to anoth--r, ‘Hath any man brought. Him aught to eat? Jesus said unto' them, My meat is to do the will of him bat sent me, and to accomplish his work’” This short message expresses what may be termed the centre of gravity of the life of Jesus. The centre of gravity of , a ny life is the dominant purpose, which controls the direction of that life. Here Jesus expresses the thought that to do the will of God is more to Him than meat and drink; he opens a window as it were, and. allows His disciples i So catch a glimpse of the inner workings of His spirit., it is a helpful study to take these words, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me” and apply them to each situation in His l.fe. We find w e have a key to His character, and also a. reason why His fife was so rjch an(J fruUful an His message so satisfying to ■nen of an a ., CB and raceg * Ate to be rich and fruitful must have tome dominant purpose or centre of gravity, and the more selfless that Phrose is, the richer i 8 the life The next helpful step is f or each to look nto his own life and discover , tg tie Of gravi'y. Here we have suggested a method by which we can ap Proximate our lives to the life . * Jesus, by starting at, the centre in stean of at the circumference