November 29

"The God of our fathers hath chosen thee."—Acts 22:14.

So St. Paul was assured of his own election—that divine election which often seems an impenetrable secret, an inscrutable mystery. And I may be assured of mine.

If the gospel of Christ comes to me not in word, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, that will be one proof to my soul. The message, which used to be a dead letter before, is quick and active now, spirit and life. It convinces. It converts. It comforts. It commands.

If my own character has undergone a complete and blessed revolution, that will be another proof to my soul. Now I needs must love the Highest, for I have seen the King in His beauty. I am a willing partaker too in the afflictions of Christ. And mine, all the while, is the joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is not my old self at all. This is a new man of the Lord's creating and inspiring and sustaining.

If the world shows me that it recognises a difference between me and itself, that will be a third proof to my soul. I wonder if it notes my godliness: that I have turned from idols to glorify the Lord Christ alone. I wonder if it notes my expectancy: that I am waiting for God's Son from heaven. Do I leave on it the impression of something separate, unearthly, divine?

When I can meet such tests as these with a humble and yet confident Yes, I may know without a question and without a doubt that God hath chosen me—I may read my name in His book.

"I lie where I have always lain, God smiles as He has always smiled."