‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 15 April 1915, Page 9

‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by.GniMEL.) If - LIFE. ' ‘ I am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.’ St. John x., 10. Our Lord was fond of expressing His whole purpose and object by means of some brief but pregnant phrase. In the hearing of the Pharisees lie said it was for 1 judgment’ that He came into this world. Then He told Pilate that He came 1 to bear witness to the truth.’ Once more it is, ‘ I am the Resurrection and the. Life,’* or ‘ I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.’ Get at the heart of Christ’s teaching and life is nestling against that heart: life is the sweet epitome of the Gospel message. ‘ (1). Physical Life. —A fresh supply of life comes to us every day, and in a large measure we can shape it as we choose—make it larger and fuller, keep it much the same, or let it dwindle away almost into nothingness. For our greatness and our responsibility consist in this, that we are able to determine what our end in life shall be. Each one is, to this extent, ‘the captain of his soul and the master of his fate.’ He may allow himself to be dominated by moods and circumstances, or to be swayed by the passions of his physical nature. In neither case does he rise to the level of manhood. Even nobler activities and pleasures fail to exhaust our capacities or satisfy our natures. These at best show life under the limitations of time, and — ‘ Life’s inadequate to joy, As the soul secs it. A man can use but a man’s joy And he sees God’s. So we cry out from (he depths of our heart for life, fuller, deeper, more enduring; for the prospect of untroubled calm with fruitful activity, for the pledge of ‘ Some future state Unlimited in capability For joy, as this is in desire for joy.’ And thus we find a new meaning and a new power in the words: ‘ I am come that they may have life.’ (2) Intellectual Life. —A man begins to live when the noblest part of him is truly awake to the tremendous realities of life and death. The burning words of the Teacher of Mankind make us think and stand for Him or against Him ; 1 Is there anything more calculated to quicken the mental faculties and arouse intellectual enthusiasm than a consideration of those lofty and inspiring topics that were the theme of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth?’ (3) The. Moral Life towers above the merely intellectual and emotional. Whatever homage we may pay to commanding genius, we feel and know deep down in our souls that the honest man, the man who can conquer himself in loyalty to justice and duty, who dares to do right whatever the consequences to himself, who seeks always to serve and help his fellows in whatever way he can, is a king amongst men. He has reached a higher and truer, richer and fuller life. He may have been one of those poor livers who do nothing more than 4 consecrate dull deeds with undulled justice,’ but, after all, this is the sum of life s purpose, and with the poet Ave hold ‘ . . . ’tis proved To be heroic is an easier thing Than to be just and good.’ Christ came to. give moral life. (4) Spiritual Life. —However perfect in itself the moral life may be, it can have its limitations. It may be bounded by time and pinned down to earth. It

may be alive to the world around, but dead to the Eternal Being, to the Creator Who Iras first claim on us. The spirit*, of life that moves within us makes us feel highest and truest , life of j man is found in the life of religion. ' For man is conceived in the image of God Himself, and called to be His son and heir. * We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. [We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Life’s but a means unto an end that end. To those who dwell in Him, He most in them, Beginning, mean and end to all things, God.’ The elevating grace of the Redeemer confers upon a man completeness of spiritual life. It evokes our spiritual instincts, kindles them into a warm, personal love for Our Saviour; and when, as in the case of the saints, the Spirit of Christ gets room and opportunity to do its work, a noble character is the result—faith joining hands with love, strength with sympathy, courage with tenderness.