the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Bowen's Daily Meditations
"Mark the perfect man and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace." - Psalms 37:37.
We are here called upon to observe the providential wisdom and faithfulness of God, shown in his care of the good. "We are not merely to glance at these good ones, but to keep our eye upon them; for though God’s providence may, for a season, appear to be adverse to them, yet at the end it will be found that he has led them carefully by his all-righteous hand. Not that they will die in affluence, in splendor, or in great worldly honor; but they shall exhibit their sure trust in God by a tranquil and serene deportment, by a heavenly peace, by a prayer breathed for their enemies in the very hour when they are stoned to death.
But there are many who say, " Show us the perfect man; let us see the upright man; we look for such in vain.’ We answer, The Judge of all the earth sees some whom he is willing thus to designate; it is a reproach to you, if you know them not. He says not, the perfect angel, but the perfect man; in other words, the sinner, who has turned from the error of his ways, and become, in most important respects, what God would have him to be. The eye of God, wandering over the outspread ranks of humanity, reposes at length upon one who having recognized his deep-dyed guilt, his imminent danger, and fled for refuge to the Redeemer, has consecrated himself to God, identified himself with the cause and with the people of God, and given himself to the study and pursuit of perfection. Such are living epistles, known and read of all men; by their lives religiously condemning, convincing, inviting, persuading others. Their testimony, like that of the word of God, is disliked and spoken against.
If indeed you have sincerely looked and looked in vain, then be alarmed at the thought of the evil days upon which you have fallen. For such men are the salt of the earth; and when they are withdrawn, swift destruction cometh. If there are none such, how much reason is there that you and I should seek by the grace of God, to be such.
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