September 25

"John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine. . . . The Son of Man is come eating and drinking."—Luke 7:33, 34.

THERE is need both for the Baptist and for the Christ. There is room for divine severity and for diviner good- ness. Judgment has its place, and mercy has its higher and queenlier place.

Sometimes it will be well for me to go out to the deserts and listen to John. He will deepen and intensify my views of sin in myself and in others. He will shatter my plausible excuses and my easy- going piety. He will summon me to the godly sorrow which needeth not to be repented of. He will bid me dig deep and lay the foundations well. I am too apt to take for granted that all is as it ought to be. I am too apt to love religion only when she walks in silver slippers and on the sunny side of the street.

But sometimes it will be better for me to eat and drink with Jesus. He will assure me of forgiveness, although my transgressions are countless in their number and crimson in their stain. He will give me a deeper and deeper insight into the marvellous love of God. He will teach me to sympathise with His own gracious and heavy purpose of seeking and saving the lost. He will inspire me with hopefulness for the chief and worst of sinners. And I need His message, for there are many midnight hours in my history when I despair both of myself and of others.

Let me not condemn John because he blows a dolorous blast, nor Jesus because His is the silver trumpet of God's good and rich Evangel. My soul requires the pealing thunder of the Forerunner, but then too the infinite sweetness of the Saviour's voice.