_There are Denials of the Affections_.
The precious things of earth--
The mother's tender care,
The father's faith and prayer--
From Thee have birth.
And, just because love is of such high origin, and is the greatest power
in human life, it is often captured and held by the Devil as his last
stronghold against God. The heart is at once the strongest and the most
sensitive part of our nature; and it is here, therefore, that we often
find the most blessed and profitable opportunities for self-denial.
That pleasant companionship, so grateful, so fruitful of joy, and yet so
likely to tempt me from the path of faithful service, "Lord, I deny myself
of it." That mastering affection for wife, or husband, or children--so
beautiful in its strength and simplicity, and yet so exacting in its
claims--"Lord, I deny myself of the abandonment to which it invites me; I
put it in its proper place, second to Thee, and to the work Thou hast
given me to do." That love of home, and friends, and circle, which is so
powerful a factor in life, and enters so constantly into all the
arrangements and details of our conduct, influencing so largely all real
plans for doing God's work--"Lord, I will deny it, when it is in danger of
lessening my labours for Thee and Thy Kingdom." The pleasant hour, the
quiet evening, the restful book, "I will lay them at Thy feet, for Thy
sake, when they hinder me doing Thy will. It is between me and Thee alone;
it is the sacrifice of love."
How precious it must be to God to see such self-denial! When the true
lover sees the woman he has chosen leaving all for his sake, calmly laying
down the love of father and family, and even braving the rebuffs and
unkindness of those from whom before she has known nothing but affection,
in order that she may give him her whole heart and life, how strong become
the cords which bind him to her! Every sacrifice she makes for his sake
forges another bond which will not easily be broken. And is the Lord a
man, that He should be behind us in loving with an everlasting love those
who thus give up and deny their own loves for Him? No! a thousand times
no! He will repay. Every self-denial is a seedling rich with future joys.
For it is indeed true that "He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the
Spirit reap life everlasting. He that overcometh shall inherit all things,
and I will give him the morning star."