The Master's Voice.
"I will watch to see what He will say unto me."--Hab. ii. 1.
When the Lord Jesus said to Simon the Pharisee, "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee;" he answered, "Master, say on!" When God was going to speak to Samuel, he said, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." Has the Lord Jesus said anything like this for us? He says, "I have yet many things to say unto you." What things? They will be strong, helpful, life-giving words, for He says, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." They will be very loving words, for He says, "I will speak comfortably to her" (margin, "I will speak to her heart"). And they will be very kind and tender words, and spoken just at the right moment, for He says that He knows "how to speak a word in season to him that is weary." "Will He really speak to me?" says the little heart. Yes, really, if you will only watch to see what He will say to you. For it will be "a still, small voice," and you will not hear it at all if you do not listen for it. "How will He speak to me?" If I had something very nice to tell you, and instead of saying it out loud, I wrote it down on a piece of paper, and gave it you to look at, would not that be exactly the same as if I had told it you with my lips? And you would take the paper eagerly to see what it was that I had to say to you. So to-day, when you read your Bible, either alone or at your Bible-lesson, watch to see what Jesus will say to you in it. You will never really watch in vain. You will see some word that seems to come home to you, and that you never noticed so much before. Oh, listen lovingly to it, for that is what He says to you! Or if you are really watching and wishing for a word from Him, some sweet text will come into your mind, and you wonder what made you think of it! That is the voice of Jesus speaking to your heart. Listen to it, and treasure it up, and follow it; and then watch to see what else He will say to you. Say to Him, "Master, say on!"
"Master, speak! and make me ready,
When Thy voice is truly heard,
With obedience glad and steady,
Still to follow every word.
I am listening, Lord, for Thee;
Master, speak, oh, speak to me!"
18. Eighteenth Day.
Who will take care of me?
"He careth for you."--I Pet. v. 7.
It is so pleasant to be cared for; to have kind relations and friends who show that they love you by their care of you, and their care for you. What would you do if no one cared for you, like the poor little children in London who are turned out to "do for themselves" before they are as old as you are? What would you do if there was no one to get anything for you to eat, or to see to your clothes, or to keep a home for you to live in? No one to take any notice if you hurt yourself ever so badly, or if you were ever so ill? You would feel then what a difference being cared for makes to your life. But all the earthly care for you comes because "He careth for you." He planned and arranged everything, without your having anything to do with it, so that you shall be cared for. And He did not arrange it once for all, and then leave things to go on as might happen. No! Every day, every moment, He careth, goes on caring, for you. Not only thinking of you and watching you, but working for you; making things come right, so that everything should be just the best that could happen to you. Not managing the great things, and leaving the little things to arrange themselves; but giving loving care to the least, the very least things that concern you. Even in some tiny little trouble which no one else seems to care about, "He careth;" or when every one else is too much taken up with other things to attend to you, "He careth for you."
You can never get beyond God's care, for it always reaches you; you can never be outside of it, for it is always enfolding you.
"'Who will take care of me?' darling, you say,
Lovingly, tenderly watched as you are?
Listen! I give you the answer to-day,
One who is never forgetful or far."He will take care of you! All through the year
Crowning each day with His kindness and love,
Sending you blessings and shielding from fear,
Leading you on to His bright home above."