| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 1 |
Page 7 |
Some people spend too much time gazing into heaven. There is a time when we ought to look upward, toward the skies. Man was made to adore. The original word in Greek for man means the upward look. One who looks always downward only grovels. Heaven is above us. We get our inspirations from above us. Our final home is above us. Never to look upward is to miss all that is worthy, beautiful and divine in life. But there is a gazing into the heavens, which is most idle and wasteful. The disciples saw their Master as He left them, and watched while His form was visible, until it was folded away in the cloud. Then it was their duty to hasten away to begin their waiting and praying. They were not to lose a moment.
Peter wished to build tabernacles and keep the transfiguration glory on the mountain. But it was a mistaken wish. Work was waiting, and the purpose of the transfiguration was to prepare the Master and His disciples for going forward in the service of love. It is not enough to read the Bible and to have our hearts warmed by its revealings and our spirits stirred by its calls to duty. The fervour is meant to send us out into the world to live nobler and to make the world better and happier. Let us heed the cal that bids us away from our idle gazing to serious duty. We dream too much — dreaming accomplishes nothing till we turn away and put our dreams into acts. We need the dreams to give us the inspiration, to show us the ideal, to set before us the heavenly pattern; then we must go forth to make the dreams become real in life, in character, in service.
Page 7