The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1904-09-03

rs they lift their bright faces up-
ward to receive the sunshine and the
fala, have been in their own sweet way
bringing TO man Gods message and help
ing TO interpret His written word. Whai
q picture our text brings before us. jesus
seated on the green-cgrneted slopes OF
the hillside, the group of faithful dis
clples whom He has but just formally
cAosen to follow Him in His ministry
standing behind Him, while before Him
and on either side the eager, attentive
expectant multitudes press to hear Him.
Aud Jesus, looking=o out upon that multi
tude, sees the anxious, eareworn and
hungry-Iooking faces behind which the
starving, nnsatisfied souls were keeping
their vigil. He feels the throb of that
restless life He knows the anxious
thought and trouble which follow re-
lentlessly at the heels of those people
like an evil Nemesis: He understands
the work and struggle which SO on
day after day-the. anxiety for the neces-
sites OF life and the fretting for the
pleasures and Injuries And that jew
fsh multitude gathered about the Saviour
IN the Galllean hills was no different
from the muItitudes OF to-day. There
are the same anxious and careWorn
faces; there are the same hungry, unsat-
isfled looks breaking forth from the
starving soul; there are the same worry,
the same discomfort, the same feVerish
pursuit for the perishable things of this
llfe-for food and raiment, for pleasures
and for worldly place and power. Jesus
as He looks out over the world to-day
from His throne in glory sees human
nature the same. He can point us back
to that scene which our text brings be-
fore US, and ask us to see there the faith
ful portrayal in miniature of the condi-
ton OF human heart and life to-day.
p UT Jesus saw more than that fever
= ish and anxious multitude. He
saw more than that human sea of
faces, over which the furroWing marks
OF care and trouble and unWholesome
pleasures and indulgenees had traced
their indelible lines. Yea, If He had
not, l verify believe His heart would
have broken. In that human need
and soul-hunger before Him there was
naught to cheer His heart or bring
gladness to the Divine eyes But that
was not all He saw. The grass and
the lilies Of the field were there. He
saw them, and they spoke their sweet
message of Gods faithful care as the
Creator and of their glad and humble
faith and trust as the dependent crea-
ture. ButthemuItitudes didnotsee. Ruth
lessly and thoughtiessly they crushed
the grass and the scarlet-robed lilies
under their restless feet They were
forward for they hardly knew
what. Earthly care and material
wants made their hearts hard and
their souls insensible to the whispered
of the fair, glad flowers at
their feet. And, oh, how that is true
to-day! How this materiaEstie age is
crowding out all sense and thought of
God, and yet how the lilies of the
field, how the birds of the air, how all
Astounding nature would bring their
to the heart of man and have
him learn of God through them, and
find in them the clear Interpretation
Of His Word!
T He fields bring their perennial mes
sage. It is old and yet ever new.
Jesus says to you and me as we turn our
anxious troubled, unsatisfied hearts to-
wards Him: Consider the lilies of the
field" Why? Not alone to drink in
heir beauty and to fill the passing mo-
nent with fragrance and brightness.
Not just simply to admire them and rap
gush over their graceful out
ines and their exquisite eolorings. Not
10 examine them with the scientific eye
and regard them as SO many more speci-
mems for the collection. Not to regard
hem as the beautiful model to be paint
d into the landscape and lend their
leautiful color to brighten and glorify
he picture. Not any of these. Jesus
vas not talking TO the gushing and
sentimental and esthetic, not to the
not to the artist. Jesus loved
allure for more than her superficial
elf. He saw deeper than the exqui-
tie colorings and the picturesque and
eautiful combinations He heard the
piritual message which nature whis-
,ered. He saw underneath the beauty
nd the fragrance the lessons which
ould reveal God and Gods Word. And |
20 He said: Consider the lilies of the
leld.' Have you considered them?
h, yes, you say. How love to wan
er through the fields, how / delight !
o search through the woods for the |
nosses and the ferns and the tender
iolets which brighten the cool, shaded I
looks. How I rejoice in the song of
he bird, in the ripple of the stream,
4 the murmur of the trees as the hurry
ns breeze skips from leaf to leaf and
cts them all to whispering Of his visit |
nd his hasty fight, in the buzz and
lum of the insect world! Oh, love ma |
ure, love to be with her, love to com |
hume with her. She brings rest and
eaee and quiet to my heart. All.
es, SO she does. How eagerly and
nature ministers to man ir-
espective of his moral or religious con-
ftion. But Jesus does not plead with
$ to Consider the lilies of the feld'' |
or the superficial and material gratiff- /
alton OF man. He wants us to con-
ldSr them foI. the dannay cp;ws+,,,J So. I