October 8
Under Which King?
In the Hour of Silence"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh."—Galatians 5:17.
THE Spirit and the flesh are two opposites; and each is bent on undermining the ascendancy of the other. Sin reigning within me, or the Holy Ghost reigning—it must be one of the two; it cannot be both.
If I let the flesh be supreme, its dominion will be a despotism. I shall find it a pitiless master, and all that I produce in obedience to it will be works. It is a process distasteful, irksome, dreary. There is no joy, no pleasure—or only that pleasure about which Mr. Stevenson writes: "pleasure with a thousand faces, and none of them perfect; with a thousand tongues, and all of them broken; with a thousand hands, and all with scratching nails." I fancied that sin would be my friend, and I discover that it is my gaoler.
But if I let the Spirit control me, how different is His masterhood! He will be a tender Husbandman far more than an autocratic prince; and what comes from me now will be fruit. It will be a spontaneous harvest. I shall bring forth my grapes, my olives, my pomegranates, without effort and with joy. I cannot help myself; my second and heavenly nature must have outlet. From within, most gently and yet most royally, the Lord the Spirit will dominate me; and it will be nothing but gladness to submit to Him.
Surely I shall not hesitate which Master to choose. With the one is bondage, with the Other is liberty. The one rules me with a rod of iron; but as for the Other—
"Flowers laugh before Him on their beds, And fragrance in His footing treads."