DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 161, 8 June 1929, Page 12

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

“BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NE\V.”—(Rev. xxi. 5). “A new creature.” —Gal. vi. 15. “A new name,” —Isa. Ixii. 2; Rev. ii. 17; iii. 12. “A new song.”—Psa. xl. 3. “A new spirit.”—Ezek. Xi. 19. “A new heart.” —Ezek. xvii. 31. “New mercies each returning clay Hover around us while we pray; New perils past, new sins forgiven. New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.”

THE BIBLE FIRST BOOK TO CROSS ATLANTIC BY AIR. In appreciation of Commander Richard E. Byrd’s carrying a Bible in the trophy box of the airplane America, on its first flight to Europe, a largo copy of a leather-bound Bible was presented to him on behalf of the American Bible Society by Mr Gilbert Darlington, its treasurer, at the close of the ceremonies at the Eternal Light, Madison Square, which ended New York City’s first day of welcome to the homecoming ocean fliers. A goldlettered inscription on the cover of the Bible reads: “Presented by the American Bible Society to Commander Richard E. Byrd and the crew of the America, who were the first to carry the Bible to Europe by air.” When Commander Byrd, because of the significance of the non-stop flight to Europe, expressed a wish to add a copy of the Bible to the distinguished company of the trophy box, Mr Rodman A. Wanamaker provided the Commander with a miniature Bible, its pages about the size of a postage stamp and its weight one ounco.

MY BIBLE. Great God, with wonder and with praise,* On all thy works I look; But still thy wisdom, pow’r and grace, Shine brightest in thy Book. Hero are my choicest treasures hid, Here my best comfort lies; Here my desires are satisfied, And here my hopes arise. Then let me love my Bible more, And take a fresh delight, By day to read these wonders o’er, And meditato by night. —lsaac Watts, 1674 —1748.

CHINA’S LEPERS. It is estimated that out of China’s four hundred million, one to every four hundred' of the population is a leper. Poor, afflicted China, disintegrated by political revolutions, and having very few modern trained doctors, cannot care for such a largo number of sadly afflicted lepers. Small wonder, then, that her lepers are wandering the roadsides, in all the hideousness of neglected disease, begging a living from the passers-by, and dying in out-of-the-way corners. Chinese doctors know no treatment for leprosy, and Confucius and Buddha and Mohammed did not command their followers to have compassion For its victims. But Jesus Christ not only commanded His disciples to “Cleanse the lepers”; He Himself set an example, by touching them and making them whole and there are hundreds of happy lepers in China to-day to testify to the power of Christ which has brought Christian Missionaries and doctors across the seas to relieve their suffering and tell them of our Lord Jesus Christ.

ELECTIONS, PAST AND PRESENT. BIBLE INCIDENTS THAT ILLUSTRATE THE SELECTIONS ALL HAVE TO MAKE. Some think it wrong to vote in public elections; some do not trouble jto vote; but in moral and spiritual elections, or selections, all are obliged , to vote. I The Biblo contains the stories of many choices and their results. When God formed man in Eden, He gave him a will, or tho power of choice, and has “kept His hands off” man’s will ever since, Man’s will has been free, and from that freedom arises his responsibility. His whole spiritual life, | which includes his lot and portion in 'eternity, is determined by liis choices. In the temporal world, too, his choices lead him all tho way; through his decisions comes either prosperity or adversity. So that temporally or spiritually, a man’s choices are the most important part of his life. Tho first recorded election took place in Eden; the candidates were tho destroyer and the Creator; our parents voted for tho former, and thus destroyed tho race. Another election took place when Lot chose the well-watered plain of Jordan, and leaving the godly Abram pitched his tent toward wicked Sodom (Gen. XIII. 10-13). I Moses voted well in the election in Egypt, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy tho pleasures of sin tor a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for ho had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Heb. XI. 1 25, 26). A great election took place at Shecliem, when Joshua challenged ah Israel, saying: “Now therefore fear tho Lord, and servo him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and servo ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will servo; whether tho gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of tho flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. XXIV. 14, 15). This was a wise choice.

ELECTION PAST AND PRESENT. Tho most important election took place in Pilate’s hall. Tho choice lay between Barabbas, a robber, a rebel and a murderer, and the pure and holy Jesus, tho Soil of God, and the people voted for tho release of Barabbas, and said of Jesus, “Let Him be crucified.” Jesus Christ is a candidate to-day. His rivals are the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” The Lord should win the vote of all. To those who favour “Labour.” He says: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. XI. 28-30). “Liberals” should vote for Him, for He “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” (Jas. i. 5). “Conservatives” should vote for Him, for He said, “No man cometli unto the Father but by Me.” (John XIV. 5). All sinners should vote for Him, because His programme is: “Come now, and let us reason together, saitli the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, tliev shall be as white as 6tiow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”