PREPARE THY WORK ... IN THE FIELD

PREPARE THY WORK ... IN THE FIELD

I hope that you are now at ————, and that you will find it a very profitable time there. It is generally supposed that Paul was detained two years in Arabia, and that there ^[p. 166] he was deepened in the truth of the great disclosures that were made to him at his conversion. “Prepare thy work ... in the field; and afterwards build thine house” (Proverbs 24: 27). It is of the greatest importance that we should know in our own souls the reality of the truth which we propound. If we learn it with God in the solitude of Arabia, we shall be saved from the stumbles which are necessary to convince our conscience that we have gone beyond our measure, and that there is in us more sound than substance. The case of the man who was delivered from the legion has afforded instruction to me; he told what great things the Lord had done for him. My power depends on my being a practical exponent of the truth which I present. The apostle could say, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do” (Philippians 4: 9). Thus this little seclusion will be in the Lord’s care of much benefit to you. There is much need in this day of men who because of affection to Christ can leave all and follow Him. I do not mean give up all their secular calling or abandon their proper business or duties; but those who, without any effort, make Christ and His interests on earth their paramount concern. Where there is great love for an object, there is constantly a greater effort to conceal it than to display it. May your heart have this deep love for Christ.

I do feel that we can never forget the scene we passed through around dear ———— in her last days here. The step from this world to the Lord seemed so simple to her, and it is so great to us.