The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-07-09

@H 10 DleSS' anu VIM
will bless, if we
will put ourselves
in the way of blessing. Man knows God
SO imperfectly, and judges of the DIVINE
nature and character from the
and imperfect and sinful human heart,
that il is not an uncommon thing Tor
man to think that God is caprlclous n
partial. in His dealings, that blessing at
His hands is not a sure reward, but I'M
certain in realization, and dl~sproportlon-
ate in amount. How often o Is
charged with forgetfulness, If not aDso-
lutte and heartless neglect. How often
discomfort and bitterness Of heart con-
troll in the thought of God, because we
encourage ourselves to believe thai mer-
it has gone unrewarded, that faithful
ness has been unnOticed and uncom-
men6ed, that obedience has NJ received
its just compensation. We judge God
unfaithful, unappreciative, unloV1ng
and unfair, and turn from Him in impa-
thence and unbelief and resolve that we
will quit trying. Such, say, is a COM
mon experience. l dare say you who
read these words can recall such in your
life. But it is all wickedly untrue. Goo
longs to bless, and His blessing is not
given capriciously and with Partially,
for God is no ~reSpecter of persons" He
has no favorites, in the human sense OF
the term; He does not give to one what
He is unable or unwilling to give to an
other under like circumstances and con-
ditions, and the Divine will and purpose
and the conditions which call forth the
blessing do not fluctuate like the quota
tions of the stock market.
nHERE are conditions governing
Il blessing at the hands of the Lord.
/ do not recall a single promise of God
which is not linked with some condi-
ton. Man must do his part in order to
receive and enjoy the blessing which
God would give him. Earthly parents
give too. often to their children with
carelessly indulgent hand and spoil IN
the giving. They give without thought,
reason or purpose. They give just to
crafty the parental pride in giving,
and to satisfy the willful desire on the
part of the child to receive. More often
than not no conditions whatever are
imposed. The child receives whether it
merits it or not. Even when conditions
are imposed as like as not it receives
whether the conditions are fulfilled or
not. But i is not so with the dear
Lord, who is too wise, and too loving,
and too faithful, to commit any such
error. The promise of His blessing is
conditioned upon the attitude of the
heart of man, upon the y~ieldingness Of
his will, upon the faithfulness of the
life. In Gods dealings with the chill
dren of Israel we find suggestive
thoughts of Gods method with man to-
day. When they were obedient unto
His law, and followed His leading, they
received the blessing at His hands.
When they were disobedient and turned
aside into forbidden paths, the fruit
age of their sins was trouble and hard
ship, and oppression at the hands of
the heather nations about them. Our
text gives us Gods special admonition:
"Ye shall observe to do therefore as
Jehovah your God hath commanded
you; We shall not turn aside to the
right hand or to the left; ye shall walk
in a. the way which Jehovah your God
hath commanded you, that we may live.
and that it may be we'll withyyou, and
that ye may prolong our days in the
land which We shall possess"
HERE We have admonition and prom
IL Use. The way of blessing was marked
by life and well-being and fullness of
years, and to walk that way required
obedience to Gods law, steadfastness OF
purpose and persistent effort. The high
est thing which God could offer was life
and well-being while life lasted, and
completeness of years, and blessing a
Gods hands always includes these three
What greater blessing can God offer than
life? With that one element of life lack.
ing of what good is all else? Life!
Life! Life! What a wonderful thing
is this life which throbs in our veins!
This physical life, which makes of oul
flesh something higher and better thar
mere earth Upon which our feet tread
And to obey God means life-physica
life and spiritual life. Sin means death
it is death, but observing Gods law, anC
walking therein means life here and life