The love of God is not only inexhaustible, not only free, but imposes no conditions except that we accept it from Him, and that is what salvation really is, as I know you know, just the willingness to turn around and face the Lord, knowing or at least trusting that as far as He is concerned (not what we or anyone else thinks) we have been made worthy in spite of our shame, righteous in spite of our sin. God is so good. He is pure mercy. He even prays from the cross that the Father forgive those who killed Him, on that cross and on every cross till the end of time. He didn't qualify in that prayer which of his killers to forgive. He just asked that all be forgiven. And like every prayer of Christ, how can we even think that His heavenly Father would not have granted His request? How could we hope for the granting of our own requests if even the very Son of God was denied His prayer request. God forbid we should be so faithless.
The whole world is white for harvest. That means, every soul has been saved by Christ. Pray that the Lord sends laborers to that harvest, to tell every man that God loves them, that God is in fact love, that there is no darkness or hatred in Him at all. Yes, God is holy and cannot abide sin, but does He banish it? No, He descends into the midst of it, to break its bonds and release its prisoners.
Yes, Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life. Yes, He empties the tombs.
Come, labor on!
Who dares stand idle, on the harvest plain
While all around him waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say,
“Go work today.”
Come, labor on!
Claim the high calling angels cannot share—
To young and old the Gospel gladness bear;
Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly.
The night draws nigh.
Come, labor on!
The enemy is watching night and day,
To sow the tares, to snatch the seed away;
While we in sleep our duty have forgot, He slumbered not.
Come, labor on!
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear!
No arm so weak but may do service here:
By feeblest agents may our God fulfill
His righteous will.
Come, labor on!
No time for rest, till glows the western sky,
Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun,
“Well done, well done!”
Come, labor on!
The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure;
Blessèd are those who to the end endure;
How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,
O Lord, with Thee!
2 comments:
I feel so keenly these days that the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. Just Sunday, at the altar, our priest asked each of our small company where we were coming from that morning, what state of mind or heart.
I said that I had come from a seeking to lay down my arms, my wrath, my judgment. I wasn't seeking for Him to embrace me, however. Shame is so powerful, and Pride is the product taking up arms against it. So, I seek to lay it down.
This little meditation helps, and I thank you.
I very much identify with you and I think, for me, it is a matter of advancing age as well as spiritual maturity. I also have political and social concerns, but I believe there are better people than I to tend to those matters. There are younger, better educated, and more confident individuals who can take care of those issues. What I can do, because the end is near for me and because I am not living and working in the nitty-gritty of the world, is to pray for and to love even those with whom I disagree--even he for whom I will not vote. There are limitations and losses with the aging process, but there is also a great liberation to perceive all individuals as potential harvest.
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