July 23

I will bless thee . . . because thou hast obeyed my voice.

GEN. xxii. 17, 18.

Stretch forth thine hand. — MAIT. xii. 13.

PICTURE to yourself the scene at the moment when this command broke forth from the lips of our Lord: there is the hand, feeling, motion all gone, its executive power utterly lost: there is Jesus, the divine healer, able to restore it whole as the other. We see these; but is that all? Nay, but between these two figures — this divine Person and this withered hand — there is a channel through which the almighty energy of the one flows with life-giving, curative virtue into the dry and shrunken form of the other. What is that channel? The man believed Jesus could heal him. Was it that? In part, but not all. When Jesus said, Stretch forth thine hand, the man's faith prompted him to instant obedience; although he had tried to do this a thousand times before, and had not been able, yet such was his belief in Jesus that without a moment's hesitation he again makes the effort, and it was just in the act of making this effort that he felt the healing vigor given to him. What then is the lesson that this incident has for us? Surely this, — that when Volition is wedded to Faith, Omnipotence will bless the banns. Here lies the secret of all strength. Apply it to whatever emergency or requirement, and it will never fail. Are you enslaved to some habit which Christ bids you put off? Look to him and make an effort at freedom, and the bonds will be burst. Is a hard task imposed upon you, and do you feel inadequate to it? Trust in him and make the effort, and you will find that what is impossible with man is possible with God.

W. F. V. Bartlett

My highest hope to be where, Lord, thou art,

To lose myself in thee my richest gain;

To do thy will the habit of my heart,

To grieve the Spirit my severest pain.

MONSELL.