Job 19:28

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?" Job 19:28

The time will come when every judgment will be regulated by the radical condition of men. At present, judgment is superficial, relating largely to circumstances and changing conditions. We should be concerned about the real character of a man, and in the light of that character view his eccentricities, peculiarities, and even the failings that seem to alienate our confidence. Perfect men we need not expect to find, because we are not perfect ourselves; but without being perfect, a man may be rooted in the true life, and may be enriched with the true knowledge. Men should be judged by the larger aspects of their character. There may be a thousand slips, mistakes, foibles, and yet underneath all there may be a living reality of faith and love. We are not to break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax, or turn aside that which is lame out of the way; we are to be pitiful, considerate, large-minded towards all men. Once be satisfied that the root of the matter is in a man that is to say, that he means well, that his motives are simple, that his purposes are upright then it will be easy to deal with the inequalities of his character. There are some men who never show themselves to advantage. Unfortunately for them, they are always disclosing the weaker side of their nature, asserting their peculiarities, and, almost of set purpose, concealing their real quality. "By their fruits ye shall know them" is a rule which cannot be amended, not by the fruits of this particular day or that, but the fruits of the whole lifetime. No man who has the root of the matter in him can wholly disguise its presence and effect in his life. The fruit will appear at unexpected times, and will be most abundant when there is the largest opportunity of feeding hunger without the observation of others. Surely there is a sense in which the root of the matter is in every man, some trace of divinity, some symbol of high origin, some thought not born of earth, some flash of light that must have been enkindled in eternity: it is this that inspires philanthropy with immortal hope, that nerves and succours it amid all the gathering discouragements which would suppress and destroy it. Every man knows whether the root of the matter is in him or not. This has not to be revealed to him by others; it is a fact which his own conscience can positively determine. Let there be no mistake as to the nature of the root, it is not profession, it is not sentiment, it is not official alliance with this or that particular section of the Christian Church, it is not veneration for things past, or superstition for things sacerdotal and ecclesiastical; it is a life, it is a conscious enjoyment of God, it is a deep and unalterable vow to serve the living God, whatever others may do.