THE PATH AND THE PLACE
THE PATH AND THE PLACE
I can often fancy myself in your midst. May the Lord give you and your dear husband to move on, not only with the solid tread of those who feel their responsibilities, but of those also who are consciously receiving grace and strength to discharge them. There is a path here and there is a place in heaven. We must never in spirit dissolve the link between the two. In the path here I ought to exhibit the resources of my place in heaven, but I must not make my path the exclusive thing before me. A Christian ought to draw from the whole range of heaven, from Him through whom he is filled with all divine teaching. Every heavenly virtue is ministered to him to cheer and sustain him on his path here. If he is not drawing from the heavenly treasure thus he is not living in heart luxury! He is occupied with his path and how he can provide support in it, instead of having the seas crowded with fleets of heavenly spices and goods to fill and strengthen his heart! The path here and the place — our place with Christ in heaven — cannot be separated without positive loss. You may be too exclusively occupied with your path, or too exclusively occupied with your place; but I would there were more of the latter, for it is easier for one who is occupied with his place alone to find the true path here than for one occupied solely with his path to find his place in heaven, because the path passes away, while the place never will pass away, and the use of the [p. 235] path is, the demand that is on you to draw from your place in Christ, to get His wisdom and strength to walk in it. The path, in fact, ought to be the mould, the opportunity, for the expression and virtue of Christ’s life. Saints use Christ rather in order to get through their circumstances, instead of seeing in the circumstances the mould (as one makes a mould of clay for gold or iron) in which they are to be taught the strength and power of Christ. May neither the depth nor the breadth of the mould terrify you, dear ————, but may you and your dear husband grow in Christ, knowing Him, not only as helping you through circumstances, but using the circumstances which He puts you through as opportunities for enlarging your souls in Himself.