Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with
such things as ye have:
for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee.
We may
not have what we wish, but we certainly have what our God thinks best for us.
Every
mercy is directed by infinite wisdom and eternal love, and never misses its road,
or comes into the possession of any but the persons for whom it is intended.
Let us
therefore remember, that our God has chosen our inheritance for us, and it
becomes us to be content; yea, to be very grateful.
We
have infinitely more than we deserve; we have more than many of our fellow-believers.
We
have liberty while the Apostles were shut up in prison;
we
have a home, while many of the primitive Christians wandered about in dens and
caves of the earth; our lives are protected, while the martyrs were burned at
the stake;
we
live in hope of heaven while many are lifting up their eyes in hell, being in
torment.
Let us
strive to be content with present things, and hope for better; let us endeavour
to learn Paul's lesson, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to
be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.”
O
happy state! O blessed experience! Lord,-
Take
my soul and body's powers,
Take
my memory, mind, and will,
All my
goods, and all my hours,
All I
know, and all I feel;
Thine
I live, thrice happy I !
Happier
still if Thine I die!.
James
Smith
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