My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year | Page 4

whole situation." He said that what he did not know was not worth
knowing. But such "knowing" men have always very imperfect sight.
Lot saw "all the well-watered plain of Jordan," but he overlooked the
city of Sodom and its exceedingly wicked and sinful people. And the
thing he overlooked was the biggest thing in the outlook! It was to
prove his undoing, and to bring his presumptuous selfishness to the
ground.
Look at Abram. His spirit was cool and thoughtful, unheated by the
feverish yearning after increased possessions. He had a "quiet eye," the
fruit of his faithful communion with God. He was more intent on peace
than plenty. He preferred fraternal fellowship to selfish increase. And
so he chose the unselfish way, and along that way he discovered the
blessing of God. "The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth
His children." In the unselfish way we always enjoy the Divine
companionship, and in that companionship we are endowed with
inconceivable wealth.

JANUARY The Eleventh
SELF-MADE OR GOD-MADE

MATTHEW vi. 26-33.
Think of Lot and then think of a lily of the field! Think of the
feverishness of the one and of the serenity of the other, or think of the
ugly selfishness of the one, and of the graceful beauty of the other!
Look upon avarice at its worst, upon a Shylock, and then gaze upon a
lily of the field! How alarming is the contrast! The one is self-made,
guided by vicious impulses; the other is the handiwork of God. The one
is rooted in self-will; the other is rooted in the power of the Divine
grace. God has nothing to do with the one; He has everything to do
with the other. So one becomes "big" and ugly; the other grows in
strength and beauty.
Now the wonder is this, that we, too, may be rooted in the power from
which the lily draws its grace. We may draw into our souls the wealth
of the Eternal, even the unsearchable riches of Christ. We may put on
"the beauty of holiness." We may become clothed in the graces of the
Spirit. When we are in the field of the lilies we may appear unto the
Lord as kindred flowers of His own garden.
"He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much
fruit." "Rooted in Him," we shall "grow up in all things unto Him."

JANUARY The Twelfth
TWO OPPOSITES
"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." --1
JOHN ii. 13-17.
No man can love two opposites any more than he can walk in contrary
directions at the same time. No man can at once be mean and
magnanimous, chivalrous and selfish. We cannot at the same moment
dress appropriately for the arctic regions and the tropics. And we
cannot wear the habits of the world and the garments of salvation.
When we try to do it the result is a wretched and miserable compromise.
I have seen a shopkeeper on the Sabbath day put up one shutter, out of

presumed respect for the Holy Lord, and behind the shutter continue all
the business of the world! That one shutter is typical of all the religion
that is left when a man "loves the world" and delights in its prizes and
crowns. His religion is a bit of idle ritual which is an offence unto God!
So I must make my choice. Shall I travel north or south? Which of the
two opposites shall I love--God or the world? Whichever love I choose
will drive out and quench the other. And thus if I choose the love of
God it will destroy every worldly passion, and the river of my
affections and desires will be like "the river of water of life, clear as
crystal."

JANUARY The Thirteenth
THE MIRACLE IN A DRY PLACE
PSALM cvii. 33-43.
"He turneth ... the dry ground into water-springs." This is one of the
miracles of grace. The good Lord makes a dry experience the fountain
of blessing. I pass into an apparently waste place and I find riches of
consolation. Even in "the valley of the shadow" I come upon "green
pastures" and "still waters." I find flowers in the ruts of the hardest
roads if I am in "the way of God's commandments." God's providence
is the pioneer of every faithful pilgrim. "His blessed feet have gone
before." What I shall need is already foreseen, and foresight with the
Lord means forethought and provision. Every hour gives the loyal
disciples surprises of grace.
Let me therefore not fear when the path of duty turns into the
wilderness. The wilderness is as habitable with God as the crowded city,
and in His fellowship