HOURS OF DEVOTION. I 1. We are the Offspring of God. God's son thou art, no doubt, but ah I the one ACTS, xvii. 28. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring." AM the offspring of God, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being. Of this consciousness-the consciousness that God is not afar off, but a God that is near— some trace, as I imagine, will be found in every human being not sophisticated by education or depraved by a life of sin. There must be something in our nature which connects us with the great Fountain of truth, goodness, and beauty; for otherwise how could we take delight in the true, the good, and the beautiful? The more simple and innocent a man is, the more vividly he feels that he is related to God, although into the nature of the relationship he has no clear insight. And this feeling must be rooted amazingly deep in the heart, for we hold it fast in spite of the misery and sin which abound in the world, and which seem to give it the lie. I never could divest myself of the conviction that in this house of clay1 there dwells a spirit whose native country is the other world. And to that other world the way is unobstructed. Angels still fly down from it, and bring messages to us here on earth. Yes, "God is a God at hand, and not afar off" from His creatures. 2 All this I have said to myself; and yet when I reflect upon the miseries of man's life, the fickleness and frailty of his heart, and the black wickedness which he is capable of committing, I am far less inclined to wonder at those who, being destitute of the light of God's Word, doubt of their divine extraction, than at those who believe it. "Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."3 Oh, how pathetically do these words, from an early age of the world, express the sentiment, which suggests itself far more readily to the mind of him who contemplates the surface of human life than does the exclamation, "We are the offspring of God"! Hear, too, how Luther describes the human heart. "It is," he says, "like a ship at sea, tossed by tempests from the four quarters of the globe. On this side beat fear and anxiety about future misfortunes— on that, trouble and sorrow about present evil. Here presumption and hope of prosperity to come inflate, there blow the gales of joy and confidence in present blessings." How, then, can this fleeting child of an hour, this slave of every passion, be the offspring of God? It is a riddle; who can solve it? So, indeed, may they exclaim who have not yet taken the divine Word to be the light of their feet. But, God be thanked! I know the simple solution. Man is the son of God; but he is the prodigal son, now sojourning in a far country and feeding upon husks. 1 Job, x. 9; iv. 19. 2 Jer. xxiii. 23. 3 * Job, xiv. 1, 2. From God Himself I claim descent, of no mean lineage I; Yes, here too, as in so many other instances, Holy Scripture reconciles the contradictory, and justifies each of the conflicting feelings in the human heart. But if I am the prodigal son, surely my first and great concern should be to understand correctly the miserable state to which I have been reduced. On this subject I must not allow myself to be dazzled by the recollection of the primeval nobility of my nature. That recollection should at the most only serve to kindle aspiration in my heart. How comes it that so many, yielding to the seduction of a foolish pride, disavow the debasing penury and wretchedness with which we are encompassed? They are like persons on whose ear some discord grates, but who persuade themselves that it is a concord, until at last they blunt their sense of hearing. Or they are like the unjust steward in the parable;1 being ashamed to beg, they think it better to cheat, at least themselves. I will not imitate them. No; I acknowledge myself to be the prodigal, living in the far country, and feeding upon husks. The longing of my heart goes vehemently forth towards the land of spiritual freedom; it is my true fatherland, and He who has known a home will kiss no more Yes, I too exclaim, "I am the offspring of God," but I do it with eyes suffused with tears; for I perceive that the divine element within me is, contrary to its nature, thwarted, whereas of right it ought to reign. Man is the lost sheep once fed beneath the crook of the good Shepherd, and which then had sunshine and green pastures in abundance, but which has now 1 Luke, xvi. 3. |