1. His Life for thee! The Good Shepherd giveth
Christ for Us verse, ''So I bought her to me''; stooping to do that in His unspeakable condescension of love, not with the typical silver and barley, but with the precious blood of Christ. Then, having thus loved us, and rescued us, and bought us with a price indeed, He says, still under the same figure, '"Thou shalt abide for Me many days.''
This is both a command and a pledge. But the very pledge implies our past unfaithfulness, and the proved need of even our own part being undertaken by the ever patient Lord. He Himself has to guarantee our faithfulness, because there is no other hope of our continuing faithful. Well may such love win our full and glad surrender, and such a promise win our happy and confident trust!
But He says more. He says, ''So will I also be for thee!'' And this seems an even greater marvel of love, as we observe how He meets every detail of our consecration with this wonderful word.
1. His Life for thee! The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Oh, wonderful gift! not promised, but given; not to friends, but to enemies.
Given without condition, without reserve, without return! Himself unknown and unloved, His gift unsought and unasked, He gave His life for thee; a more than royal bounty—the greatest gift that Diety could devise. Oh grandeur of love!'' ''I lay down
My life for the sheep! And we for whom He gave it have held back, and hesitated to give our lives, not even for Him (He has not asked us to do that), but to Him! But that is past, and He has tenderly