Herbert: It's true we cannot reach

Wednesday, February 27, 2019
    Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633
Meditation:
    At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
    —Mark 1:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
It’s true we cannot reach Christ’s forti’th day
Yet to go part of that religious way
    Is better than to rest:
We cannot reach our Savior’s purity;
Yet we are bid, ‘Be holy ev’n as He’:
    In both let’s do our best.

Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone
Is much more sure to meet with Him than one
    That traveleth by-ways;
Perhaps my God, though He be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, and more,
    May strengthen my decays.

Yet, Lord, instruct us to improve our fast
By starving sin, and taking such repast
    As may our faults control;
That ev’ry man may revel at his door,
Not in his parlor; banqueting the poor,
    And among those, his soul.
    ... George Herbert (1593-1633), The Poetical Works of George Herbert, New York: D. Appleton, 1857, p. 109-110 (see the book)
    See also Mark 1:12-13; Isa. 35:8; 1 Pet. 1:15,16; Heb. 9:8-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may my sin be starved out of me.

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