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Music For the Soul
Devotional: March 5th

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STRENGTH OF CHARACTER

And cast forth his roots as Lebanon. - Hosea 14:5.

A GOD-BEDEWED soul that has been made fair and pure, by communion with God, ought also to be strong. He shall cast forth his roots " like Lebanon." I take it that simile does not refer to the roots of that giant range that slope away down under the depths of the Mediterranean. That is a beautiful emblem, but it is not in line with the other images in the context. As these are all dependent on the promise of the dew, and represent different phases of the results of its fulfillment, it is natural to expect thus much uniformity in their variety, that they shall all be drawn from plant life. If so, we must suppose a condensed metaphor here, and take " Lebanon" to mean the forests which another prophet calls "the glory of Lebanon." The characteristic tree in these, as we all know, was the cedar.

It is named in Hebrew by a word which is connected with that for " strength." It stands as the very type and emblem of stability and vigor Think of its firm roots by which it is anchored deep in the soil; think of the shelves of massive dark foliage; think of its unchanged steadfastness in storm; think of its towering height; and thus arriving at the meaning of the emblem, let us translate it into practice in our own lives. " He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Beauty? Yes! Purity? Yes! And braided in with them, if I may so say, the strength which can say "No!" which can resist, which can persist, which can overcome; power drawn from communion with God. "Strength and beauty" should blend in the worshipers, as they do in the "sanctuary" in God Himself. There is nothing admirable in mere force; there is often something sickly and feeble, and therefore contemptible, in mere beauty. Many of us will cultivate the complacent and the amiable sides of the Christian life, and be wanting in the manly " thews that throws the world," and can fight to the death. But we have to try and bring these two excellencies of character together, and it needs an immense deal of grace and wisdom and imitation of Jesus Christ, and a close clasp of His hand, to enable us to do that.

Many a stately elm that seems full of vigorous life, for all its spreading boughs and clouds of dancing leaves, is hollow at the heart, and when the storm comes goes down with a crash, and men wonder, as they look at the ruin, how such a mere shell of life, with a core of corruption, could stand so long. It rotted within, and fell at last because its roots did not go deep down to the rich soil, where they would have found nourishment, but ran along near the surface, among gravel and stones. If we would stand firm, be sound within, and bring forth much fruit, we must strike our roots deep in Him who is the anchorage of our souls and the nourisher of all our being.

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