The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1904-08-20

SW the fields, and the
fragrant blossoms,
AZ they lift their bright faces up
ward to receive the sunshine and the
rain, have been In their own sweet way
bringing to man God message and help
Ing TO interpret His written word. What
q picture our text brings before us. Jesus
seated on the green-carpeted slopes of
the hillside, the group Of faithful dis
ciples whom He has but Just formally
chosen 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.
And Jesus, looking out upon that multi
tude, sees the anxious, careworn and
hungry-looking faces behind which the
starving. unsatisned souls were keeping
their vigil. He feels he{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 go on
day after day-the anxiety for the neces-
stiles of life and the fretting for the
pleasures ana luxuries. And that Jew
ish multitude gathered about the Saviour
In the Galilean hills was no different
from the multitudes OF to-day. There
are the same anxious and careworn
faces; there are the same hungry. unsat-
isfed 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
life-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 scepf1 which our text brings be-
fore ns lad aslsus to see there the faith
~1Ml portrayal in miniature Of the condi-
ton OF human heart and life to-day.
2 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 indulgences had traced
their indelible lines. Yea. II He had
not, I 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. But the multitudes did not see. Ruth
iessly and thoughtlessly they crushed
the grass and the scarlet-robed lilies
under their restless feet. They wers
pressing forward for they hardly knew
what Earthly care and material
wants made their hearts hard and
their souls insensible to the whispered
message Of the fair. glad flowers at
their feet. And, oh. how that Is true
to-day! How this materialistic 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
messages to the heart of man and have
him learn OF God through them, and
ind in them the clear Interpretation
Of His Word!
II 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" Why7 Not alone to drink in
their beauty and to Nil the passing mo
ment with fragrance and brightness.
Not Just simply to admire them and rap
turously gush over their graceful out
lines and their exquisite colorings. Not
to examine them with the scientific eye
and regard them ~ 30 many more speci-
mems for the collection. Not to regard
them a. the beautiful model to be paint
ed into the Landscape and lend their
beautiful color to brighten and glorify
the picture. Not any Of these. Jesus
was not talking to the gushing and
sentimental and esthetic, not to the
botanist, not to the artist. Jesus loved
nature for more than her superficial
self. He saw deeper than the exQui-
site colorines and the picturesque and
beautiful consultations. He heard tn
spiritual message which nature whis.
pered. He ea~ underneath the beauty
and the fragrance the lessons which
could reveal God and Gods Word. And
90 He said: ''Consider the lilies q TIL
field" Have you considered them,
oh, yer, you nv. How I love to wan
Ar throueh the fields. how I s1slixh,