_MISSING THE LORD_
"_Thou knowest not the time of thy visitation._"
--LUKE xix. 37-44.
Yes, that has been my sad experience. I have wasted some of my wealthiest
seasons. I have treated the hour as common and worthless, and the
priceless opportunity has passed.
There have been times when my Lord has come to me, and I have turned Him
away from my door. He so often journeys "incognito," and if I am
thoughtless I dismiss Him, and so lose the privilege of heavenly communion
and benediction. He knocks at my door as a Carpenter, and the humble
attire deceives me, and I treat Him with scant courtesy, and sometimes
with contempt. I know not the time of my visitation.
He comes to me in the guise of needy people--as sick, or hungry, or a
stranger, and I cannot be troubled with His presence. I dismissed Him as a
pauper, little knowing that I was turning away a millionaire! I knew not
the time of my visitation! "I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat,"
and so we missed the bread of life.
And so there is nothing for it, but to be always "on the watch." I must
treat everybody as though everybody was the Christ. And I must treat every
commonplace moment as though it were the home of the eternal.