"Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? "Jer. 2:36; 2 Chron. 28:16-23.
"I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent." Rev. 2:4-5.
Back, thou truant! guideless going,
Gadding much to change thy way,
Soul corruption, inly-sowing,
Broadcast too, from God astray.
Breaking down divine defences
(Lines which mark the way He trod),
Bold and wayward midst offences,
Loins ungirt, and feet unshod.
Perilled truant, drifting, drifting,
"First love left" - no point to steer;
Faithless as the quicksands shifting,
Quicksand thou, with soul-wreck near.
Self-defiant, past controlling,
Drunken, reeling to and fro;
Waves like mountains, rising, rolling,
Rive and rend with wail and woe.
Oh, what tumult, fiercely raging
(Whirlwind-reaper, tempest-test)
Wildest waves - (no tears assuaging) -
Cast thee wrecked on sorrow's coast.
Wearied with corruption-reaping,
Conscience craves the path once trod;
"First love" too, aroused from sleeping,
Lifts its own remembrance-roil.
Oh, what smiting, wailing, weeping
Weeping back thy way to God!
"Weepest thou thy love's disaster
Chiefly from thy soul's dismay,
Or for Him thou calledst Master,
When He turned thy night today?
"Criest thou for lost communion,
Lost adornment of thy soul
Loss of all the bloom of union,
With its fervent first control?"
Love like thine, so brief, so broken,
Slights, alas! the Saviour's name;
Still His love - the cross its token -
Meets thy tears, and grief, and shame.
Blest contrition, God will teach thee,
Stranded on repentance-shore;
One unwearied doth beseech thee,
Watching, waiting to restore.
Oh, what blessing He provides thee -
Bright renewal of thy soul!
In His passion safe He hides thee,
None but Jesus maketh whole.
"First and Last" - He gave thee being,
In Himself the quickening Word;
Sought thee, brought thee back from fleeing,
Back to blessing, back to God:
All the ways of grace agreeing
With the counsels of the Lord. C. F. C.
There is no calling for the Christian but the calling to a risen and glorified Christ. Christ glorified is his object; but Christ down here is the pattern for his walk.