Babcock: no substitutes accepted

Thursday, February 29, 2024
Meditation:
    Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
    —John 15:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christianity is not a voice in the wilderness, but a life in the world. It is not an idea in the air but feet on the ground, going God’s way. It is not an exotic to be kept under glass, but a hardy plant to bear twelve manner of fruit in all kinds of weather. Fidelity to duty is its root and branch. Nothing we can say to the Lord, no calling Him by great or dear names, can take the place of the plain doing of His will. We may cry out about the beauty of eating bread with Him in His kingdom, but it is wasted breath and a rootless hope, unless we plow and plant in His kingdom here and now. To remember Him at His table and to forget Him at ours, is to have invested in bad securities. There is no substitute for plain, every-day goodness.
    ... Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901), Thoughts for Every-day Living, New York: C. Scribner’s sons, 1901, p. 48 (see the book)
    See also John 15:4-6; Matt. 15:36; 26:26-27; Mark 6:41; 14:22-23; John 6:11; Acts 27:35; Rom. 14:6; 1 Tim. 4:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never forget my debt to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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