"_I am my beloved's._" This is really better than the first text,
because if he is mine, and faith is like a hand of the soul, then faith
may grow weary and the result would be sad; if I am his and he holds me
then that is different. In John the tenth chapter, the twenty-eighth
to the thirtieth verses, we have a picture of the true sheepfold and of
the place where the child of God may rest, held in the hand of God and
of his dear son. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
father, which gave them unto me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."
What a joy it is to know that we are his!
First: His by redemption, for we are redeemed not with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
"Ye are not your own but ye are bought with a price."
Second: We are his because God gave us to him; in his wonderful
intercessory prayer Jesus said, "Thou gavest them to me," and again,
"Ye are not our own."
Third: We are his because again and again we have said so with our
lips. How true the text is, then, in the light of the Scripture! If
this is true then what is consecration? It is not giving God
something, for how could we give him that which is already his own?
Consecration is simply taking our hands off and letting him have his
way with us in everything.
The late George Macgregor used to tell the story of one of the bishops
of the Church of England, who had an invalid wife and who never could
surrender beyond a certain point. He was unwilling to say that he
would give up his wife, for God might call him to some mission he could
not perform, and she had been the constant object of his care. But at
last he won the victory and rose from his knees to say to his friend
that the surrender should be complete, and then they went into the room
of his invalid wife to tell her. With a sweet smile upon her face she
said, "I have reached the same decision and you can go to the ends of
the earth if need be." That night the old bishop's wife died and when
they went across the hall to tell the bishop there was no answer to
their knock. When they entered the door they found the bishop with
eyes closed, hands folded and heart still. He, too, had gone. God did
not want to separate them. He wanted them to be united, their wills
surrendered to him and then he would send them in the same chariot up
into heaven.