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The Desire of Ages
of a man, with bands of love.”
Psalm 77:20
;
Jeremiah 31:3
;
Hosea
11:4
.
It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward,
that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the
Saviour’s matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth,
from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross, and the sight of Him
attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of
the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.
As the shepherd goes before his sheep, himself first encountering
the perils of the way, so does Jesus with His people. “When He putteth
forth His own sheep, He goeth before them.” The way to heaven is
consecrated by the Saviour’s footprints. The path may be steep and
rugged, but Jesus has traveled that way; His feet have pressed down
the cruel thorns, to make the pathway easier for us. Every burden that
we are called to bear He Himself has borne.
Though now He has ascended to the presence of God, and shares
the throne of the universe, Jesus has lost none of His compassionate
nature. Today the same tender, sympathizing heart is open to all the
woes of humanity. Today the hand that was pierced is reached forth
to bless more abundantly His people that are in the world. “And they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
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The soul that has given himself to Christ is more precious in His
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sight than the whole world. The Saviour would have passed through
the agony of Calvary that one might be saved in His kingdom. He
will never abandon one for whom He has died. Unless His followers
choose to leave Him, He will hold them fast.
Through all our trials we have a never-failing Helper. He does
not leave us alone to struggle with temptation, to battle with evil,
and be finally crushed with burdens and sorrow. Though now He is
hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice saying,
Fear not; I am with you. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive forevermore.”
Revelation 1:18
. I have endured your
sorrows, experienced your struggles, encountered your temptations. I
know your tears; I also have wept. The griefs that lie too deep to be
breathed into any human ear, I know. Think not that you are desolate
and forsaken. Though your pain touch no responsive chord in any
heart on earth, look unto Me, and live. “The mountains shall depart,
and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee,