Joshua 24:27

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us." Jos 24:27

This is more than poetry; this indeed is the greatest of realities. We are accustomed to regard nature as a silent and unresponsive quantity, but it is never so regarded in holy Scripture. We cannot tell the relation of nature to our own spiritual life. There is nothing secret that shall not be revealed; there is nothing spoken in whispers that shall not be repeated in thunders. Who cannot recall the places at which certain vows were spoken, or memorable prayers were poured out of the heart? The world is full of trysting-places, altars of promise, mountains of aspiration, sanctuaries of vow and oath. Every place at which we have kneeled will be a witness against us. Every time we have handled the Bible we have marked down a witness either in our favour or against us. A recollection of these circumstances would hallow nature and give all life a new sensitiveness. "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Had not the children praised Christ, the very stones would have cried out against them, and taken up a song of gladness in his honour. There are places which we cannot pass without great memories leaping up from them, and making us live our years over again in sudden agony, now of pain, now of rapture. The footprints we leave behind us may be seen by others, and may be encouragements to them. It is for us to say whether those encouragements shall be found on the upward road, crowned with heaven, or on the downward road, at the end of which there is a burning pit. A very solemn thought it is that we are never really alone. Time and space are God's witnesses, and the stones we accounted deaf may be alive to hear every oath and blessing uttered by our lives. It is a fearful thing to live! What did you say at the child's grave? What at the wedding altar? What was the meaning of the gift of a mother's Bible? Recall the spot on which a great deliverance was wrought, and remember your many tears and vows. How desolate the condition of a man against whom dumb nature exclaims! The very stones cry out. Every harvest rebukes spiritual indolence. Every star puts to shame the life of darkness. Every flower protests against moral hideousness. O my soul, how many have been thy vows, and how few thy fulfilments! Wilt thou always be a liar before God, and always dare the very faces of nature to put thee to shame? I will arise and redeem my vows, and ask him who is merciful evermore to give me courage to own my cowardice, and strength to repair the waste places of my life.