November 11

“Jehu the son of Hanani the seer said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly?”—2 Chronicles 19:2.

EVEN when my heart is right with God, there may be carelessness and error in my life. The saint may help the wicked, and sometimes may seem to love them that hate the Lord.

I may be overfond of their society. I may find in it a charm, a verve and vivacity, a brilliance, which I do not discover in the conversation and company of the saints. It has a subtle and powerful attractiveness for me, and I succumb often to its witchery.

I may be dazzled by their treasures. The sheen and sparkle of worldly wealth blind me to the profounder worth of those impalpable riches which moth and rust cannot corrupt. It is possible, it is easy, to become poorer spiritually while I become prosperous materially.

I may be infected with their unbelief. Nothing is commoner than for the Christian to make compromises with the culture and scepticism of his time. And then the great verities which he should see in the clearest light loom through mist and haze.

I may be led captive by their sins. Instead of sounding forth undauntedly my testimony against the evils of my generation, I may be silent; yes, and the poisonous and malarial air may touch me with its fatal contagion, until my life is flaccid and my lips are dumb.

Let me be on my guard. And let me pray God to garrison me with His strength and purity, “lest the god of this world blind me, lest he speak me fair.” For there are no transgressions so inexcusable, and none so disastrous, as the transgressions of His own people. The child’s sin is worse than the stranger’s.