November 1

God . . . now commandeth all men every where to repent.

ACTS xvii. 30.

Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. — LUKE xiv. 23.

THE disciple must go to those who need him: they will not come to him. Earth's highways and byways are alike filled with the neglected and perishing, and the disciple, like his Master, has a special mission to them. "As the Father hath sent me into the world, even so send I you." Like our blessed Saviour, we too must seek and save the lost. We are ever prone to turn to those who have not gone astray, but such was not the spirit of the Master. God has in these latter days brought all the ends of the earth together, and now the earnest worker can go to almost any part of the globe without difficulty, and bring in the wanderer and the outcast to the royal feast of heaven. With hands of holy violence and yet with the voice of love and the touch of gentleness we should go after the most needy and neglected ones of earth in the assured confidence that God's blessing will follow us, and that our labors shall not be in vain. In the great banqueting house of heaven may it be ours to see some among the happy guests who shall have been gathered in by our faithful obedience to this command!

J. M. Thoburn

Whoever will — O gracious word! —

May of this stream partake;

Come, thirsty souls, and bless the Lord,

And drink for Jesus' sake!

SAMUEL MEDLEY (altered)