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DRAWING NIGH to GOD
by Minnie E. Dauphinee
Supreme Love .....When Love Wanes
Sometimes the gospel seed falls upon hearts where there are thorns. We are not left in doubt as to what the thorns represent, for Christ distinctly declared them to be cares, riches, pleasures, and the lust of other things (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19). The thorny-ground hearer wants to be saved, He professes to be a Christian. For a time a struggle goes on between the desire for holiness and the temptation to worldliness. The things of this world absorb time and thought and strength that should be devoted to God and His service.
A dying man said to the pastor whose church he had attended for twenty years, " I have never heard a sermon," explaining that always during the preaching he had been planning his business affairs. An Arab told of losing his way in the desert. Having been without food for days, he had despaired of his life. "I shall never forget," he said, "the feeling of delight that came to me when I found a package that I thought contained food, not the bitterness that I suffered in discovering that it contained only worldly wealth."
A dying man said to the pastor whose church he had attended for twenty years, " I have never heard a sermon," explaining that always during the preaching he had been planning his business affairs. An Arab told of losing his way in the desert. Having been without food for days, he had despaired of his life. "I shall never forget," he said, "the feeling of delight that came to me when I found a package that I thought contained food, not the bitterness that I suffered in discovering that it contained only worldly wealth."
Caring for the necessities of life and securing riches are right and necessary in their place. But when they take first place in our thoughts, they "choke" the power of God's Word, and love for our Saviour wanes. Let us give Him first place-
"And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and
grace."
"And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and
grace."
I have found that I need to take notes on the sermon to keep me in the present. It's too easy for me to hear a point and begin planning an article around it. Love the song at the end.
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