When our Lord dwelt among men, so extreme was His poverty
that He had nothing which He could call His own! If we follow Him through the
whole of His memorable career, we shall find that He had to borrow whatever He
needed.
Did He ride in solemn state, amid the acclamations of the
people, to the Jewish capital? The humble beast on which He was mounted was not
His own but belonged to another.
Did He join with His little flock in celebrating the Pascal
supper on the night before He died? The upper room in which they assembled, was
a borrowed room.
Was there a garden to which He was in the habit of resorting in
order to enjoy secret communion with His Heavenly Father? That garden, fraught
with such hallowed associations, was a borrowed garden.
Did He cross from coast to coast for the purpose of performing
His deeds of mercy, and of announcing the joyful tidings of pardon and peace to
the ignorant and guilty? The fishing-boats which conveyed Him on these
compassionate errands were borrowed boats.
Yes, if we go back to the time of His birth, the place in
which He was born was a borrowed place; and, while He was born in another man's
stable. He was also buried in another man's grave. Although all things were
made by Him, yet His circumstances were so destitute, that He was dependent for
everything upon the charity of others.
To so poor and humiliating a lot, was the Lord of life and
glory subjected.
And WHY did He assume such a debased condition? It was
"for our sakes." In His deep poverty, as well as the other numberless
woes to which He voluntarily submitted, His unselfish compassion was
signally displayed, therein the kindness and love, the yearning pity and
matchless philanthropy, of God our Savior appeared.
All that He did and suffered was for us!
He was made a curse for us!
He gave Himself to die for us!
He obtained eternal redemption for us!
And although his privations and distresses have been long since
exchanged for the realms and royalties above, yet the spirit by which he is
actuated is still the same.
The contemplation of the Redeemer's unselfish humiliation,
ought to shame us out of that selfish spirit to which we are so prone. SELF
has been truly called the great antichrist; not merely that which was to be
manifested in the latter days but which has characterized every age of the
world's, and in no small measure, of the church's history.
After another mind, O my soul, even that which was in your
blessed Lord, be it yours constantly and strenuously to aspire! Since He died
for you, should you not be anxious to live for Him? It is surely your
reasonable service to endeavor to promote in every way His cause below, inasmuch
as He is ever pleading your cause above.
[John MacDuff]
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2 Corinthians 8:9 ... For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Luke 9:58 ... And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Hebrews 9:24 ... For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Philippians 2:21 ... For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
Romans 5:8 ... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.❤
