October 6
Daily Gleanings of the Saintly LifeTwelfth Sunday after Trinity
Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in Thy truth: O knit my heart unto Thee, that I may fear Thy Name. I will thank Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and will praise Thy Name for evermore. Psalms 86:11, 12.
WHEN we look back on our past life we cannot but be astonished at the evidences of God's mercy and care which have surrounded us. All our life is full of His goodness. God has averted many dangers from us, given us many comforts, raised up friends, preserved to us loving relations—perhaps we have been blessed with outward prosperity and success in our under- takings; and these things God has bestowed upon us in consequence of our desires or in answer to our prayers. But has God nothing in store which He wishes to bestow better than these, which He holds back because we desire it not? These are indeed tokens of His love, but they are such as should make us ashamed, such as Christ may have granted us with a sigh that we wished for nothing better. No; there is nothing more affecting than these mercies of God. He would teach us by these how ready He is to give what is of infinitely greater worth, if we ask in faith and desire it. Daniel is called "a man of desires." We are not men of desires, our desires are very weak and poor, because our love is small. May our Saviour grant
His love of us may teach us how
To love Him in return:
Love cannot help but grow more free
The more its transports burn.