March 17

"We are ambitious."—2 Corinthians 5:9; Romans 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:11 (R.V., margin).

THREE times over in his Epistles, St. Paul speaks of the Christian's ambition. I may learn much from every one of his three messages.

What should be the ambition of my personal life? It should be to be accepted by my Master Christ at last—not pardoned merely, not simply permitted to escape from eternal death, not tolerated only in the heavenly country, but received with willing looks and words of joyous approbation. We are ambitious, the apostle says, that, whether present or absent, we may be well-pleasing unto Him.

What should be the ambition of my church life? It should be to further the prosperity and to enlarge the boundaries of my Lord's kingdom on earth. It should be to proclaim His Evangel, and to extend His realm, and to win some new captives and subjects for Him. It has been my ambition, the apostle says again, to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, but to those to whom no tidings of Him have come.

And what should be the ambition of my social life? It should be, in my ordinary duties, in my simplest and lowliest occupations, to exhibit the new nature and the heavenly citizenship. If I cannot be holy at my daily work, it is scarcely worth while, one writes truly and forcibly, taking trouble to be holy at other times. Be ambitious, says the apostle to me once more, to be quiet and to do your own business.

These are the apostolic ambitions. Lord, let them be mine. Towards such goals, to gain such prizes, I should lay aside every weight and run the race with patience.