THE QUIET HOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 71, 27 July 1929, Page 3

THE QUIET HOUR

SUNDAY READING.

“OUR MAIN BUSINESS.” (By REV. J. MACGREGOR.) Our Lord said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me. . and you shall find rest. For My yoke id easy and My burden is lirht.” These words were spoken to thns.e who laboured and felt the burden of living too gifet. In that respect it is a message for us tc-d.iv, fd what ‘was true then is true now. "The'issues of life no man can Ctrade. * We are born into the veild Sfrithout being consulted in the matted 'But once born we are cornpc-1-ed to take sides. Life is good or bad, which. If we say good we put ourselves on one side. If we say life is bad or sit on the fence, we are on the other side. Wd c■ ’t OVade; the issue. But the is more definite than that. The honest’ and' honourable man The has not* idSt his digfiity and self-respect ' an'tt' values his' peace of ialrtd, desifbs soy to live as to review life without-'shame. He wants to live for : ■' something—or better still, for gbtbebody.'-f Sadness and doom and shame Hs the fat© of the man who has 'TSbth'ing to live for. -■Ai this very point Christ meets ua on the way and says'; “Why not take' My way of life? You may make TOUT own- experiment with life if you will, but I invite you to take My way. I know what it means to he hungry, homeless,/despised, rejected by men and to be a failure as 'the world counts failure. I would help you. .1 know what the loyalty of friends means, and I know what it is to be betrayed and hurt by friends. But I never allowed myself to grow bitter or to quarrel with life; I kept my heart sweet and my spirit serene. Death took 1

me brutally when young, hut not even In death did I feel myself fori sakeni or alone. I met it with a per-

fect' confidence and peace and gave mysdlf up into the hands of the father—therefore my death was d triumph and not a defeat.- Then I ask you wh'oi are burdened in life to come ffiy way. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” ' - ; ‘ i YOKE Ftfß TWO. ’

-•Tfie t ybke ctoist invites me to take , is : '&; ; yoke for’two. The common yoke, of tho East is where a young belifit- la yoked with an old one so that' I may learn from tho otherl ■ffiatf’ lathe idda‘at the back of the ¥■ He doe s not ask a mart fl? ‘plow a' lonely furrow, but to share" tlis yoke and to learn the secretof : true living. 1 ‘ '

H 'l. : Wien a man tales’ the yokb of Christ upon Him lie learns how td true self. Mfheh Henry Drum! mhn'a* was ordained to the Christiaii Ministry he appeared before thd Presbytery in broadcloth and not in clerical garb. His idea was that th6u£h f he was tb become a ChristiStf xhinisfer, he was still Henry ffrummond. His manhood was not suifK jh. Bis office. He would tlflhh Bis r ovfn thoughts and hi nisei f‘ in Bis" own way. He would tfeTßiriiselfii '■

f Ea* clQr* lord's day the accredited fdacher's Werd mere echoes of earlt ier teachers. They did not teach 6h their own eip’erience of God, but on the autfiority of Rabbi this or that; The common people were quick' tV‘discern "the authentic noth in th© sayings of, Jesus. He “spokh

1 tihsfmate coughs or colds soon give way to‘“NA2OL.” Never known tb’Mj • *:T"' 9

as one having authority and not as the scribes.” ■ Then every man who takes the yoke of Jesus learns from Him to be himself. He respects our personality. Christian character is founded on our own individuality. We do not believe or do things merely because others believe and do them. We learn to think and dto and courageously live out pur own convictions. Learn to be ourselves and do not reglcct our capacity for God and rightemtf ess. Learn frm Christ low to be true and onr best selves.

2. When a man takes the yoke of Christ he learns how to do. Every man born into this world has his I work born with him. The man who i has found his true work is to be j congratulated. A man’ s work is jto render service to men. It will | be a great day when the ideal of I service takes possession of, all men * ,‘lt will be good when business and I professional men realise that their busines g or profession has a right to exist only as they erve the community, their justifications and end is not wages, fees, profits, dividends, though these are necessary and honourable —but service. That was the ideal of Jesus. He came not to be served but to serve. He worked as a carpenter, and our Lord, I think, would consider that He served as truly in making tables and chairs for the people and yoke for the oxen as in dying upon the, cross. The man then who takes the yoke of Christ learns how to do.

3. He wh Q takes tnc yoke of i Christ learns from Him how to do without. “The ifoxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where t 0 lay his head.” His mission of service involved denial of. Himself and likewise with those who take His yoke. Paul knew how to feel hungry and how to suffer want; how to have plenty because he hadj h great task in hand. Our Lord wad content to be withoutV He stooped to men’s level, and became man’s servant to make God plain to men and to bring men home to God., 1 4. When a man takes the' yoke of Christ he learns how to depart. For those who have learned how to bo their true selves, how to do and ■ how to dd without, death is not a disaster but' a distinction. It is the cbrisummation and crown of ‘all that has gone before and the of future glory.

Nearly three years ago Mary Elizabeth Haldane passed away at one hundred years o; age. fch6 wa s the mother of Lord Haldane, tfho : was secretary of war In 1914. In intimating her death the brilliant man wrote to friends as’ follows: — “My mother passed away in the fulness ‘of spiritual splendour.” In her long years of life she had learned of Christ how to be, how to do and how to do without, and in learning all this she had learned how to depart. ' Our 1 erd departed amid clouds and* shadows; and spoke to His disciples wofd s of joy ahd' Victory. “These things have I spoken unto you that your jo y might be full.” As much as to say, you are in for a bad time but cheer up. “I have overcome the world.” . When He said on the Cross: “It is finished,” it was not merely a sigh of relief that all was over,

- but a shout of triumph, because His appointed task was perfectly accomplished. • This is the One who says: “Take My yoke upon you and learn of - -Me.” He id the only on e viho is fully entitled to say it.