| J.R. MIller | Page 9 |
But all that is evanescent and transient is to be forgotten, left behind, while we move on to new things. Forget the things that are behind. Move entirely out of the past. It is gone and you have nothing whatever more to do with it. If it has been unworthy, it should be abandoned for something worthy. If it has been good, it should inspire us to things yet better. “Ye have compassed this mountain ling enough: turn you northward,” St. Paul also teaches this in the other word which he uses in his plan of progressive life. First, forget everything that is past. Then stretch forward to the things that are before.
What are these things that are before to which we ought to stretch? The answer may be given in a word — life. Jesus told his disciples he had come that they might have life. We have no life until we receive it from Christ. Christ is the fountain from which all life flows. His own heart broke on the cross that we might receive life, his life. Nothing will meet our need but life. A picture may seem perfect, but it is only a picture; it has no life. There is a story of a sculptor who had chiseled in marble a statue of St. George and set it before a church in Florence. Michael Angelo was asked to see it. He stood before the marble and was amazed at the success of the young artist. Every feature was perfect. The brow was massive. Intelligence beamed from the eyes. One foot was in the act of moving as if to step forward. Gazing at the splendid marble figure, Angelo said, “Now, march!” No higher compliment could the great artist have paid to St. George in marble. Yet there was no response. The statue was perfect in all the form of life, but there was no life in it. It could not march. It is possible for us to have all the semblance of life in our religious profession, in our orthodoxy of belief, in our morality, in our Christian achievements, in our conduct, in our devotion to the principles of right and truth, and yet not have life in us. Life is the great final blessing we should seek.
Not life merely, not just a little of it, but fullness of life. Jesus said he had come that we might have life and might have it abundantly. The turning northward was that the people might exchange the wilderness for Canaan. The wilderness meant emptiness, barrenness, sin’s bitter harvest. Canaan was a parable of heaven. What does turning northward mean for us to-day? It means a larger Christian life. Not some definite elements in its meaning:—
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