“Look, now...the man is lost,
Is wandering in his fame
In the wide, vacant wood,
Seeking himself,
His private name.”
“Celebrity” appeared upon the editorial page of a metropolitan newspaper; it is intended to describe the inner emotions of one who has become a “celebrity” in the eyes of the world. It is certainly true that “the man is lost” who is living within the limited circle of “seeking himself.” The things of pleasure, of pride, of position and of promise only accentuate the tragic emptiness of the soul which can never be satisfied with such frail, mortal stuff. Fame there may be, and yet what of it, for it becomes like a fantasy when the final hour has come and when life must part at the shadow of the grave and enter the wide outreach of eternity.
He who has this sort of thin fame may truly be said to be “wandering in his fame,” for it is the restless wandering which never settles, which always is reaching out for more and never finding that which truly gives satisfaction. Fame never binds up the deep wounds of the heart, and fame never explains that deep, strange uneasiness which is one of the marks of sin.
The prophet Isaiah said it best: “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men” (Isa. 59:1010We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. (Isaiah 59:10)).
And this world is truly as “the wide, vacant wood,” promising everything and providing nothing! How important it is to consider these words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-3736For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)).
This question cannot be answered. “Profit” is a tempting earth-word, but who speaks of profit when the body is cold and the soul departed? Where is fame when life is ended? Where are all those other things that are counted of world importance, when the last breath is drawn and the candle flame flickers and is gone?
He who is only “seeking himself” will have only himself to blame when eternity is opened in the engulfing horror of “the blackness of darkness forever.” When self has shut out the Savior, when the attractions of earth have conspired to hide the wonder of Calvary, there is deadly peril for the soul. He who is concerned with earthly attention for his name should learn the blessedness of “names... written in heaven,” lest the supposed fame, that is promised of earth, doom and damn the soul beyond the reach of all deliverance.
This world is truly the “wide, vacant wood”; there is nothing in it for the soul. But Christ came into it to die that we, by faith, might be delivered from it and from its condemnation. To you, here and now, this invitation is sent forth: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
All soul-wandering ends in and with the welcoming Savior. Are you anchored in Him? or still A Sermon in A Barn Some years ago a preacher of the gospel felt very impressed by the Spirit of God to go to a certain village to preach the gospel. In due time he found him adrift, still hopeless, still unsatisfied, still troubled and tossed, still-LOST? self in the place, a tiny village that had neither church, chapel, nor meeting house. He walked through the place, knowing no one in it, and no one knew him. He wondered what he should do.
He retraced his steps. On the outskirts of the village was a barn in a field. The Spirit of God seemed to tell him that this was the place where he had to preach.
He entered the barn. In it were two cows and some hay. Again the urge to preach came upon him, but he hung back. It seemed the height of absurdity for him to speak under such circumstances.
But a voice seemed to say to him, “Are you My servant, or your own master?”
He replied, “Thy servant, Lord.”
“Then do what I tell you” came the unmistakable answer.
He opened his Bible, read a portion, preached a gospel sermon, prayed and left. The whole affair seemed so foolish that he determined that he would never tell the evening’s proceedings to a living soul.
Years rolled by. The circumstances had almost passed out of his mind. One day at the close of a service when he had been preaching, a stranger came up and asked him, “Were you ever in such and such?”
“Certainly” was the reply.
“Did you ever preach in such and such a village?” was the next question.
The preacher hesitated to answer. The questioner continued to press him, telling him he had a good reason for asking. Reluctantly, the preacher finally admitted that he had preached there once.
“Did you ever preach to two cows and some hay in a barn just outside the village?”
Again the preacher had to admit that he had.
The questioner grasped the preacher by the hand, saying heartily, “I thought I recognized your voice! All those years ago I was running from the law and hid myself for safety in that barn. I fell asleep under the hay and must have slept for hours. Your voice woke me. I felt sure that God must have meant that address for me. You thought you were speaking to two cows and some hay, but it really was meant for me and me alone. God used it for my salvation.”
No longer either running or hiding, the man who was converted in so strange a way is now an earnest and devoted Christian.
Isn’t it possible that God is speaking to you, and that by this printed page? Has this great matter of your soul’s salvation not occupied your attention yet?
God’s way of salvation is plain in His holy Word. It says:
This one verse is enough for the sincere seeker. May God bless it to you.