Leviticus 1:1

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"And the Lord called unto Moses." Lev 1:1

The calls of Providence. Their number and variety. Every man is conscious of a call to higher life and duty. Account for it as we may, there is an inward voice alluring us in one of two directions. The voice of the Lord is not the only voice that addresses human attention. The devil speaks as well as God. The two voices can be easily distinguished by any earnest hearer who is determined upon doing the right deed. There are appeals addressed to self-interest and self-indulgence; these are the appeals which are never made by God. There are also appeals addressed to selfish cleverness and ingenuity, showing how prosperity can be secured or how personal interests can be advanced; such appeals need not be long considered as to their moral value: they bear upon them the stamp of an evil genius. God's calls are always in the direction of self-sacrifice, beneficence, higher and higher holiness. God calls through circumstances; through convictions; through the spontaneous action of friends of solid character; we are called upon to beware of every allurement that does not point in a distinctly lofty direction. God calls to deeper study of the Word. God calls to beneficent activity on behalf of others.

It is a deception of the enemy to suppose that we cannot always distinguish the voice of the divine. Whilst that may be true enough as to certain practical details which are so intermixed as not to admit of special moral valuation, it is absolutely false in all matters involving conscience, sacrifice, and loyalty to truth. The man who wishes to hear the divine voice must cleanse his ears of all worldly noises. These noises often constitute so many prejudices, through which, if the divine word is heard at all, it comes without emphasis and without authority. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." We should hear more divine calls if we listened more attentively. If God has ceased to speak, therefore, it may be only because we have ceased to listen. Nature says nothing to the unsympathetic man. Art delivers no message to eyes that are filled with mean objects. The speech often depends upon the hearer. The supreme prayer of life should be: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.