Obedience the Basis of Fellowship.
There is a notice in the park: “Do not walk on the grass.” Some do, and ask me why I am so disagreeable and narrow-minded as not to walk with them. I do not say they are not in the park. But they are disobedient while not on the path, so I cannot walk with them. Obedience must be the basis of fellowship.
Old Testament Illumined.
Centuries ago a fine palace was built in Florence, and a room was set apart for a chapel. A famous artist adorned its walls with beautiful frescoes. But there was no window in the room; it was lighted by the yellow light of a lamp. After many years the wall was pierced above the altar, and the sun’s rays streamed in, revealing the beauty so long hidden. The Old Testament was like the unlit chapel till Christ came.
Opportunity—Commentary on Lost.
A Bible teacher called on a girl who was in her class, but felt it wiser to wait for a fuller acquaintance before speaking to her about her soul. Months later she learned that the girl had written in her diary: “My teacher came and went away, and never gave me a chance to tell her that I wanted to be a Christian.”
Opportunity—Lost.
An English business man was returning from a European trip before the war of 1954-1918. He got into a Pullman car at Basle, and found the only other occupant of the car was a pleasant-looking gentleman in the opposite corner. He thought it would be nice to get into conversation, but being reserved by nature he did not do so. But as the train drew up at the terminus in Brussels a roll of carpet was brought to the carriage door and as the gentleman stepped out there were shouts of “Vive le Roi.” It was King Albert! The Englishman, telling his friends, said: “I could have kicked myself. I had been for hours in the train with a king who would have been quite ready to talk with me. But I missed the opportunity.”
Opportunity—Lost.
A young girl was seated in a boat one evening, as her friend rowed her on the lake. She wore string of pearls, and in a fit of abstraction had taken them off, and was holding them in her hand, and dipping the hand that held them in the water. She did not know that the string had broken, and pearl after pearl was slipping away until, when she raised the string from the water, every one of them was gone.
Opportunity—Lost.
I have just read the story of a boy who saw a horse and trap standing in a lane. The horse started to walk on without its master, and the boy could have stopped it with a word, but did not do so. It began to trot, and even then the boy could have stopped it. Then the horse began to run, until it smashed the trap and broke his leg and had to be shot. The boy is a man now, but he has never ceased to regret that he failed to stop that horse, and he can never forget the grief of the owner, who was a poor man.
Opportunity—Lost.
Ian Maclaren was at the seaside, watching the fishing boats as they returned in the evening. They would remain outside the bar till the tide rose high enough for them to enter the harbor. One night a boat missed the entrance. The men were careless, or they did not tack properly. The others were all inside. A feeling of pity for that boat, as if it had been a living creature, came over him. He got up in the night and looked out of the window. It was still there; it had missed the tide.
Opportunity—Remorse of Lost.
Dr. Chalmers called on a man eighty years of age. He talked with him on secular matters and went home, only to be summoned in the night with the tidings that the aged man was dying. He hurried back, but too late. Dr. Chalmers said: “I called the household about me and asked their forgiveness. I walked the woods day and night saying: ‘If only I had spoken! If only I had spoken of eternity.’”
Outlook—Christian.
Some pigeons were given to a man who put them in a large wire cage. Most of them hopped about, quite satisfied. Food and water were there for them, and their heads were mostly down, engaged with what was round them. Another one was a handsome, strong-winged, homing pigeon, a princely bird. To it food and water were only of use for its bare needs. It mounted to the top of the cage and its longing eye ranged the expanse of the heavens. Surrounding things had no interest. To be off and away seemed to be its great desire.