Category: Devotion of the Day

A BETTER WAY

Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.
Mark 1:45

Let the Bible scholars account for it as they will, over and over again Jesus discouraged publicity, left the crowd for the solitudes, and never played up to the multitude. His brethren could not understand why He did not go up to Jerusalem and get in the public eye. He did not seek the crowd, the crowd sought Him.

All this would be quite incomprehensible to this age of ballyhoo and the despair of high-pressure advertising. The Early Church grew as one brought another, and the Lord added such as should be saved. The Gospel was its own best publicity. By word of mouth it was noised about. Today we build up a gigantic publicity after the fashion of this age, but what we advertise does not come up to the advance notices. The mountain brings forth a mouse.

God’s ways are not ours and the church did her mightiest work unassisted by radio, television, and modern advertising. The best publicity the Gospel will ever have is a new Christian out to win others. And simple arithmetic shows that if each new disciple brought another the statistics would soon be phenomenal.

Maybe we have it all figured out wrong. Think it over.

WEATHER WATCHERS

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
Ecclesiastes 11:4

If a farmer waited until he was sure of the weather he would never raise a crop. He has to reckon with the weather and contend with it, but he cannot be sure of it. So every year he makes a venture of faith.

We cannot let the wind and clouds of circumstances determine our course. We cannot grow a harvest for God with one eye on the weather. Just as with the farmer, circumstances are to be considered, and we shall not foolishly disregard them. But we must not let them be the main factor in making our decisions.

Too many saints live fearfully from one “weather report” to another, scanning the skies and watching the clouds, conscious of “conditions” rather than of Christ. Faith goes ahead in fair weather and foul. It breaks up the fallow ground, sows the seed, cultivates the crop, and gathers the harvest. There may be pests and floods and droughts, but the Lord of the Harvest will see to it that our labor is not in vain.