September 2nd — THE SACRAMENT OF SACRIFICE
September 2nd.THE SACRAMENT OF SACRIFICE
"He that believeth in Me . . out of him shall flow. . . ." John 7:38
Jesus did not say - "he that believeth in Me shal realize the blessing of the fulness of God," but - "he that believeth in Me out of him shal escape everything he receives." Our Lord's teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautiful y rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritual y, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at al .
When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus' head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached "this also that she hath done shal be spoken of for a memorial of her." Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spil out our lives for Him?
"He that believeth in Me out of him shal flow rivers of living water" - hundreds of other lives wil be continual y refreshed. It is time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to spil the thing out. Our Lord is asking who of us wil do it for Him?