"_PUSH_" _AND_ "_PULL_"
LUKE xiv. 1-11.
The world canonizes "push." It eulogizes the "man of push." It loves to
see a man elbowing his way through the jostling crowd, and gaining for
himself a "chief seat" at life's feast. He is proclaimed a "successful"
man, and he rises in "the chief seat," and amid loud hurrahs he responds
to the toast of his health.
Yes, "push" is the word of the world, but "pull" is the word of the Lord,
and between the two there is the difference of darkness and light. "Push"
is selfish and exclusive: "pull" is inclusive and neighbourly. "Push"
takes as its motto, "The weakest to the wall!" "Pull" takes as its motto,
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
The final verdict upon life will be founded, not upon our own success in
gaining a chief seat, but upon our success in encouraging the faint and
the weakling, and in "helping lame dogs over stiles."
My gracious Lord, help me to put on "a heart of compassion" that by
neighbourly feeling and ministry I may lead my fellows to the choice
places of life's feast.