SUNDAY COLUMN.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXVI, Issue 1380, 2 March 1900, Page 2

SUNDAY COLUMN.

[At the request of clergymen in the district this column is placed at their disposal for articles appropriate for Sunday read ing.] i '

Consecration.

By Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D.

The very word "consecration" savors of pious cant in the estimation of some people, because they have heard it glibly used by certain sentimental Christians in a cheap and flippant fashion. Rightly felt and practised it is the very essence of healthy, holy and happy piety. God has a sovereign right to us ; in every sweet breath of His pure air, in every object of beauty our eyes behold, in every line of His precious Word, in every step of His providential care, in every heart joy at the mercy seat, in every promise fulfilled and grace imparted, we discover a new obligation to be the Lord's. 'Yeai c not your own ; ye are bought with a price ;' these solemn, tender words seal the claim of our crucified Master. Christ for me, and I for Christ, is the very core of honest self -consecration.

To be worth anything this must begin with a centre in the heart. The whole undivided soul must be surrendered to Him who died to redeem the soul. Christ will not take up with a closet or a corner. He demands the complete surrender of the will, the faculties and the affections. A hun dred half-Christians cannot make a simple whole one. The more heart there is in our religion, the more joy, the more power, the more victory. Nobody succeeds in what is undertaken grudgingly ; the successful men have always been, like Paul, men of one idea. ' This one thing I do ;' « for me to live is Christ.' The paramount purpose with Isaac Newton was stareyed science ; he waited at the posts of her doors until she taught him how to weigh the globe. Love of his art held Joshua Reynolds to his eassl for 20 unbroken hours till he had caught the coveted conception on his canvas. The great, rugged Scotch soul of Living stone was already among the heathen of the Dark Continent before he carried his body thither for martyrdom. The more of your heart you give to Jesus the more will Jesus give you of Himself.

In reading the biographies of many of the most "vigorous and effective Christians "we have been struck with the fact that at the outset they entered into a solemn, sincere covenant of selfconsecration. Something like this has been the spirit if not always the actual language of their dedication of them selves to God : 'O, heart searching God : and Father, thou hast a right to me as my Creator and preserver ; and as having givsn Thy Son to be my Saviour. I thank Thee that eternal life has been offered to me through His atoning death ; that the Holy" Spirit has drawn my heart unto Thee, and that Thou hast called me to Thy blessed service. May the Lord Jesus Christ dwell in my heart by His spirit, and purify me, and fill me unto all the fulness of God ! Unto Thee I do .consecrate my heart, my body, my time, my possessions, my influence— all lam and all I hope to have in this world or another. Teach me how to serve Thee, and may I never grow weary in doing Thy holy will. Let Thy Word abide in me in all wisdom, and Thy grace ever be sufficient for me. Make me steadfast in faith, perfect in love and .abundant in labour ; and when this poor heart shall cease to pulsate on earth, grant me a gracious admission as a sinner saved, into the higher, holier service of Thy heavenly Kingdom— for Jesus' sake.'

Whoever can in humble sincerity make this consecration of himself to God has taken the great initial step toward a healthy and a happy Christian life. "When the heart is given to Christ, and given without reserve or compromise, all other things will be quite sure to follow.' • Holiness to the Lord ' will be stamped on them a<s a merchant stamps his trade mark on his wares. Such practical questions as : What work shall I engage in, how much time shall I devote, and how much money shall I give ? will be settled by a conscience of which Christ is king. Christ will get the best. The first-fruits will not be locked up in the granary or the fattest sheep killed for the table of selfishness. The whole week will not be monopolised for business or houshold duties, and a hurried 10 minutes be snatched for private prayer, or a sleepy hour be grudgingly given to a devotional meet-, ing. If there is a bright, intellectual son in the family the first thought will not l?e to enter him in the race for wealth, or fame, or splendid station, but this other thought— may not Jesus Christ have a use for this brain and tongue in preaching His glorious Gospel? There are some of us ministers who in heaven will thank a godly r mother for having made this very choice for us, and for having consecrated us from infancy to this * high calling.' There are very many other ways in which a man may serve God outside of a pulpit ; but Jesus Christ ought to have the « pick ' in our schools and colleges, and back of that in homes and households. No ybubg man or woman ever co'nsV

crated himself or herself to the work of saving souls and helping their fellow-creatures God- ward, and was sorry for it.

The question 'Where shall I find a field of labour for Christ,' must be settled by the other considerations — • What am I best fitted for, and where am I most needed ? Mary Lyon's injunction to her pupils at Mount Hoiyoke was worthy of Paul himself : ' Young ladies, in choosing your place of labor, go where nobody else is willing to go.' That sentence is as near like Holy Scripture as Abraham Lincoln's ' With malice towards none, with charity for all.'

The amount of our property to be consecrated to purposes of benevolence should be left to a prayer-enlightened conscience. If Christ keeps the cheque book and the key of the purse, then He will get His due share. But not a dollar should be given to charity which is demanded by honest indebtedness. ' Owe no man anything, but to love one another/ is a divine rule whose claim is as binding as the claim of Gods treasury. The Bible rule is that every one should give ' as God hath prospered him,' in other words, ac ording to his means. This puts the poor widow's mites on a par with the millions of a Morley, a Lenox or a William E. Dodge. The most effective way of consecrating money is to bestow it sympathetically— just as the river Nile gives so much water and just so much soil and rice crop every year. But, good friends, after you and I have consecrated our whole selves and all our possessions, we shall still meet our Lord in Heaven as poor debtors.