August 26

The heavenly lodestone

“Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with” (John 4:11).
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

The greatest compliment you can pay to man or woman is to say that they attract without adornment. There are some who would reveal their birth in any garb—in the meanest, in the poorest. You might clothe them in rags; you might lodge them in hovels; you might surround them with the humblest furniture, but their speech would betray them to be “not of Galilee.” They have nothing to draw with, but they themselves draw.


So it is with Thee, Thou Son of the Highest. Thou hast nothing to attract but Thine own beauty. Thou hast put off the best robe of the Father; Thou hast assumed the dress of the prodigal son. It is in a soiled garment that Thou hast solicited my love. Thou hast come to me footsore and weary—a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Thou hast asked me to share Thy poverty. Thou hast said: “Wilt thou come with Me to the place where the thorns are rifest, to the land where the roses are most rare? Wilt thou follow Me down the deep shadows of Gethsemane, up the steep heights of Calvary? Wilt thou go with Me where the hungry cry for bread, where the sick implore for health, where the weary weep for rest? Wilt thou accompany Me where pain dwells, where danger lurks, and alleys where the poor meet and struggle and die? Wilt thou live with Me where the world passes by in scorn, where fashion pauses not to rest, where even disciples have often forsaken Me and fled? Then is thy love complete, My triumph perfected. Then have I reached the summit of human glory; for thou hast chosen Me for Myself alone, and without the aid of earth I have drawn thy heart to Heaven.”
—George Matheson.
A Man of sorrows, of toil and tears,
An outcast Man and a lonely;
But He looked on me, and through endless years
Him must I love—Him only.

And I would abide where He abode,
And follow His steps for ever;
His people my people, His God my God,
In the land beyond the river.

And where He died would I also die,
For dearer a grave beside Him,
Than a kingly place amongst living men,
The place which they denied Him.

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