_RELIGION AS MERE MAGIC_
"_And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into
the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout._"
--1 SAMUEL iv. 1-11.
They were making more of the ark than of the Lord. Their religion was
degenerating into superstition. I become superstitious whenever the means
of worship are permitted to eclipse the Object of worship. I then possess
a magic instrument, and I forget the holy Lord.
It can be so with prayer. I may use prayer as a magic minister to protect
me from invasive ills. I do not pray because I desire fellowship with the
Father, but because I should not feel safe without it. The ark is more
than the Lord.
It can be so with a crucifix. A crucifix may become a mere talisman, and
so supplant the Lord. I may wear the thing and have no fellowship with the
Person. And so may it be with the Lord's Supper. I may come to regard it
as a magic feast, which makes me immune from punishment, but not immune
from sin. It may be a minister of safety, but not of holiness.
So let mine eyes be ever unto the Lord! Let me not be satisfied with the
ark, but let me seek Him whose name is holy and whose nature is love.