Short Features

"Are Ye Able?"

Are ye able to walk in the narrow, strait way,
   With no friend by your side, and no arm for your stay?
Can ye bravely go on through the darkening night?
   Can ye patiently wait till the Lord sends the Light?

Are ye able to crush your soul’s longing for love,
   Will ye seek for no friendship save that from above?
Can ye pass through this world, lone, unnoticed, unknown,
   While your faith faintly whispers, “He knoweth his own”?

Where the feet of the Blessed One stood, can ye stand?
   Can ye follow his steps to a wilderness land?
Are ye able to cast aside pleasure and fame?
   Can ye live but to glorify his precious name?

Can ye smile as his dear voice says tenderly, “No,”
   When “the field is so white,” and your heart yearns to go?
Can ye rest then in silence, contented and still,
   Till your Lord, the Chief Reaper, revealeth his will?

Are ye able to lay on the altar’s pure flame
   That most treasured possession, your priceless good name?
Can ye ask of your Father a blessing for those
   Who see naught in your life but to scorn and oppose?

When the conflict twixt error and truth fiercer grows,
   Can ye wield the strong “sword” against unnumbered foes?
Can ye lift up the “standard” e’en higher and higher,
   While his praises ye sing in the midst of the fire?

When ye see the Lord’s cause going down to defeat,
   Will your courage endure in the seven-fold heat?
Will your faith keep you steadfast, though heart and flesh fail,
   As the new creature passes beneath the last veil?

Ah, if thus ye can drink of the cup he shall pour,
   And if never the banner of truth ye would lower,
His beloved ye are, and his crown ye shall wear,
   In his throne ye shall sit, and his glory shall share!

—Gertrude W. Seibert, Reprints, p. 5033

 

My Morning Resolve

My earliest thought I desire shall be: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord [for grace to help]. I will pay my vows unto the Most High.” (Psalm 116:12-14)

Remembering the Divine call, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made [“cut”*] a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:5), I resolve that by the Lord’s assisting grace I will today, as a saint of God, fulfill my vows, continuing the work of sacrificing the flesh and its interests, that I may attain unto the heavenly inheritance in joint-heirship with my Redeemer.

I will strive to be simple and sincere toward all. I will seek not to please and honor self, but the Lord. I will be careful to honor the Lord with my lips, that my words may be unctuous and blessed to all.

I will seek to be faithful to the Lord, the truth, the brethren and all with whom I have to do, not only in great matters, but also in the little things of life.

Trusting myself to divine care and the providential overruling of all my interests for my highest welfare, I will seek not only to be pure in heart, but to repel all anxiety, all discontent, all discouragement.

I will neither murmur nor repine at what the Lord’s providence may permit, because, “Faith can firmly trust Him, Come what  may.”

—Reprints, p. 5165

* Word added to emphasize the original meaning of “made a covenant.”

 

Keep on the Highway

I walked to the seashore one cold dark morn’
    Not knowing which way to go now
I was tired and weary and my heart was down
    And I wanted to stay all alone.
Then I looked to the sky as the sun arose
    I felt the warmth of its light
And I knew that the Lord abided with me
    And guided me all the way home.

He told me to never be sad and so blue
    For He watched over me every day
If only I’d ask Him for His guiding hand,
    I’d know all the comforts of Him.
To call on His name was my only way through
    To ask for His help every day,
To be willing and able to watch for His Word
    And never fade back into sin.

Then His voice faded out and I walked on alone
    But my footsteps somehow found the way
My worries were faded, my heart was aglow
    My thoughts were upon a new day.
And as I walked on by the once lonely sea
    My eyes were swept up in the tide,
And I knew as I walked I was never alone
    But Jesus was there by my side.

“Keep on the highway don't walk in the sand,”
    The Lord was calling to me.
“Just put all your trust in your faith and your hope
    And someday with Me you will be.”

—Leonard Griehs

 

Loss and Sacrifice

The dearest experiences of a Christian life often spring from the loss or sacrifice of something precious to us. Perhaps it is cherished peace, upset by enemies swift to accuse or think evil. Perhaps a cherished possession, torn from our affections through disaster. Perhaps a loved one who passes beyond, leaving an open void in our heart. These trials reach deeply into our being and long endure. The loss brings sobriety, reflection, and maturity. It also focuses our mind on our great sustainer, our Heavenly Father. We reach for solace from one who understands – and He understands better than all. Thus our affection for Him increases. Thus grows our wish to be in accord with Him and His ways.