| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 13 |
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Abiding in the word of Christ is given as the essential thing in discipleship. To abide in Christ’s word is to obey Him, to do His commandments, not for a day or two only, but faithfully, all through life. It is not enough to know the will of Christ — we must do it. He said that if we are His friends we will do whatsoever He commands us. Obedience, therefore, is a test of discipleship, and obedience must be patient and continuous. It must be without break. It must look to the little things of duty. Dropped stitches in the web make breaks, and then the garment unravels.
There is another way in which we may abide in the word of Christ. Many of His words are promises. The forests in summer days are full of bird’s nests. They are hidden in the trees, in among the leaves. The little birds know where they are, and when danger comes, when a storm arises, or when night draws on; they fly at once each to its own nest and hide away there in safety. So the promises of Christ are hidden in the Bible like nests in the trees, and thither we may fly in any danger or alarm, hiding there until the storm is past. There are no castles in this world so strong, so impregnable, so safe, as the words of Christ. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” said the Master, “But My words shall not pass away” (Matt.24:35 {cf. Mark 13:31; Luke21:33}).
Jesus then told His disciples how they could be made free from sin’s bondage. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Chris is a deliverer. He came to open prisons and lead captives out to liberty. There is a story of a stranger who entered an oriental city, and as he walked through the marketplace he saw many birds in cages. His face grew sad, and by and by he asked the price of one of the birds, and paying for it, opened the cage door. The bird flew out and, rising a little way in the air, caught a glimpse of its native mountains far away, and then flew swiftly toward them. The traveler then bought the other cages, one by one, and set the birds free, until all of them had been liberated. That is what Christ, our Liberator, would do for every one of us in our captivity. He would set us free, breaking our chains, opening our prison doors, that we may fly away toward home and safety.
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