KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE ONE GONE UP
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE ONE GONE UP
The more one is with the Lord and the nearer one is to Him the more one is comforted in the assurance of the constancy and perfection of His care and provision for the loved ones from whom we are separated in this passing scene. We may have minuteness of thought for them, but He not only has that, but He proves it perfectly and continually by minuteness of attention. What a place the angels have under Him! One is almost ready to envy their place and service for our absent friends, and yet when we understand the gracious way in which He bends His ear to our prayers for one another, our service to them is higher than that of the angels.
Acquaintance with the sorrows and dreariness of this world does not wean one from it. I think those who have no knowledge of the scene where partings are unknown, and have never tasted of the truth and depth of divine love, are more easily naturalised to this scene of sorrow and separation. We are unfitted for it by knowing and belonging to a scene in every way perfect, and yet we are better fitted to bear with it because we are learning to expect nothing from it, assured that we have everything outside of it. I can only say to you as I say to myself, Keep your eye on the One gone up. That is the line now opened up for us by the Spirit of God. “He, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and [p. 152] saw the glory of God, and Jesus” (Acts 7: 55). That is the line, the only line for suffering, serving ones down here. When the failure on earth is complete this line is opened up, and as you feel the dearth and weariness here, simply turn your eye upward; all power and comfort must now come from above. As your eye becomes educated in the exaltation of Jesus, so will your heart be invigorated to endure for Him down here in everything, like the first martyr, though in comparison it may be in a very small measure. You have learned what it is to turn to the Lord, and to find Him a very present help in trouble, a most useful step for a life of true service down here. I think this step may be reached apart from any decided course of service, but there cannot be any continued service until this step, this blessed knowledge, has been attained. You know the entrée, so to speak, and have used it; and once you have really used it, unless the soul becomes muddy through carelessness, the resource thus learned can never be forgotten. On the contrary, even in perplexity one can say, “I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High” (Psalm 77: 10).
You can say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23: 1). This is blessed, but it does not put your soul into a knowledge of God greater than your wants; there is another step, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (verse 2). Then it is His abundance that occupies you, and not only His ability to meet your wants. I desire for you the restfulness that this confers, and from it flows everything suited for the exigencies of your journey here below. It is the variety of your circumstances which gives occasion for the beautiful tints which will cover your table here in the wilderness.
May you be kept studiously seeking the rest which He gives. Do not let other objects turn you aside so that when the demand comes you may be found unprepared. Your line of service is plainly marked for you; rejoice in it, and serve with Christ’s grace in it, pleasing Him, and a comfort and cheer to one who can hardly fail to pray for you.