DAY 290    Read Luke 12:35 through chapter 14.

Today's reading:  Excuses, excuses! People invited to a "great supper" offered lame excuses for not attending.  Another of our Lord's parables examines our attitudes toward spiritual values.

Memory gem:  "[He] sent his servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready"  (Luke 14:17).

Thought for today:
These men spoken of in Luke were not invited to a funeral or even to hear a lecture.  They were not asked to visit a hospital or a prison.  They were to go to a feast.  The holy gospel of Jesus Christ is represented as a feast.  It was to take place in the evening.  The Bible speaks of the "marriage supper" of God's Son: "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb"  (Revelation 19:9).

Oh, my friends, we don't want to miss that feast, that appointment with God; and yet, according to this story Jesus told, these people wanted to be excused.

More than nineteen hundred years have rolled away since Jesus told this story.  Some tell us that the world has grown wiser, though we do not often hear them say it has grown better.  Wiser, they say.  But tell me this, Have men any better excuses today than they had in Christ's time?


Suppose you take your pen and write out your excuse:
    "Just now (or yesterday, or last week, or whatever it was) I received an earnest invitation from one of Your servants to be present at the marriage supper of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Please have me excused because------" and sign your name to it.  How would it sound to the King of heaven?

Let us write out another answer:
    "While reading these words (or listening to a gospel sermon, or whenever it was) I received an invitation from one of Your messengers to be present at the marriage supper of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and I hasten to reply.  By the grace of God I will be present."

Will you sign that?  May the Lord help you to make that decision today.  You must accept it or reject it.  To make no decision is itself a decision not to accept the loving request of the heavenly Father and remember--God does not accept excuses.

DAY 289    Read Luke 10:25-42; John 10:32-42; Luke 11:1-13, 33-54; 12:1-34.

Today's reading:  Among Jesus' teachings, warnings, and parables, the lesson of the rich fool stands out as particularly applicable to modern materialists.

Memory gem:  "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death"  (Proverbs 11:4).

Thought for today:
"God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"  (Luke 12:20).

That's the big question, isn't it?  Whose will they be?  This man was wise in the ways of business.  There's nothing wrong about that.  Not one word is said against him as a businessman.  There is no suggestion that he was dishonest.  The trouble was, he was covetous.  He worshiped his possessions.  He worshiped things.  There are millions today who worship things.  They want more things--better automobiles, finer houses.  But Jesus says, "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

So it was with this rich man.  He was getting ready to enlarge things.  He had big visions, big ideas.  He was successful, but he craved greater success.  But God said to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."

You see, he valued things above his soul.  Instead of regarding this life as offering him the opportunity to prepare for the next, as a kindergarten to the great university of the beyond, as the day of salvation to get ready for the day of glory, as the time for doing good and finding true goodness, he focused his interest on things.  He put his money in the wrong bank.

NOTE:  The "feast of the dedication" (John 10:22), also known as the "festival of lights," is called "Hanukkah" by devout Jews.  It occurs in our November or December.

DAY 288    Read John 9:1 through 10:31; Matthew 19:1, 2; Mark 10:1; Luke 9:51 through 10:24.

Today's reading:  After Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath, He again encountered the bitter prejudice of the religious bigots.  Again He defended Himself with deeply spiritual teaching.

Memory gem:  "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine"  (John 10:14).

Thought for today:
"In a beautiful pastoral picture He [Jesus] represents His relation to those that believe on Him.  No picture was more familiar to His hearers than this, and Christ's words linked it forever with Himself.  Never could the disciples look on the shepherds tending their flocks without recalling the Saviour's lesson.  They would see Christ in each faithful shepherd.  They would see themselves in each helpless and dependent flock.

"This figure the prophet Isaiah had applied to the Messiah's mission in the comforting words, 'O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!...He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.'  Isaiah 40:9-11...

"Christ applied these prophecies to Himself, and He showed the contrast between His own character and that of the leaders in Israel.  The Pharisees had just driven one from the fold, because he dared to bear witness to the power of Christ.  They had cut off a soul whom the True Shepherd was drawing to Himself.  In this they had shown themselves ignorant of the work committed to them, and unworthy of their trust as shepherds of the flock.  Jesus now set before them the contrast between them and the Good Shepherd, and He pointed to Himself as the real keeper of the Lord's flock....

"Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died.  The distress of every one touches His heart.  The cry for aid reaches His ear.  He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care.  He says, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.'  He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth."--The Desire of Ages, pp. 476-480.

DAY 287    Read John 7:2 through chapter 8.

Today's reading:  Throughout His ministry, Jesus had frequent clashes with religious leaders.  Some of His most important teachings came from His remarks on these occasions.

Memory gem:  "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink"  (John 7:37).

Thought for today:
Every Christian ought to search his own life, dig deep in the Word of God, and find new strength in prayer.  Jesus said that every true believer in Him was to be like a living well, an artesian well, overflowing with spiritual help to other people.

If we profess to believe in Him but do not help others, it is because our lives are spiritually dry and desolate.  It is because we do not really have the love of God in our hearts and are destitute of the Holy Spirit.  What terrible harm a professing Christian can do when in such a condition!  He is like a dry well in the desert.

About thirty miles south of Tacna, Arizona, almost on the Mexican border, there is a place called Tinajas Altas, which means "High Tanks."  It is a series of basins on the desert hillside which catch and hold rainwater.  Sometimes they are full; often they are entirely dry.  In the early days this was a favorite watering place for the pioneers.

On the slopes above Tinajas Altas are many graves.  Most of them are hard to identify now, but about thirty years ago Ike Proebstal, a well-known desert man, counted 160 graves, and every one was the grave of a man who had died of thirst.  Men had staggered across the hot desert with one last hope, of finding water in the "High Tanks."  They had hoped, but hope failed them.  They found no water, and they died.

But what about the man who is hoping against hope that he will find faith in your life? purity in your heart?  He is famished for the water of life, and he finds the well dry, the waters drained away in the desert of selfishness!

Friend, in this crisis hour of this world a solemn call from God comes to each of us.  Will you give your heart to Christ today and take the steps you know you ought to take to keep your spiritual life charged with the water of life?

May God give us grace to live right and be ready to help those who look to us as examples of living faith.

DAY 286    Read Matthew 17:1-27; Mark 9:2-29; Luke 9:28-42.

Today's reading describes one of the high points of Christ's ministry--the transfiguration.

Memory gem:  "There came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him"  (Luke 9:35).

Thought for today:
Christ on the mount of transfiguration had received the testimony of Moses and Elijah.  But there was one more voice needed, the voice of God, and now it spoke.  The voice from heaven came not in testimony to any fact, but to a person, for Jesus was God's beloved Son.

Hear Him!  His words will be in harmony with the law and the prophets.  The sacrifices and offerings of the law pointed forward to Him.  The predictions of the prophets of the Old Testament, like searchlights, penetrated the gloom of the future, revealing the cross and the crown--our Saviour's first advent to die for a lost world, and His second coming in glory which is still future in our day.  The voice from the cloud commanded: "Hear Him!  Hear Him reverently.  Hear Him implicitly.  Hear Him alone."

Friends, are we in sympathy with heaven about Christ?  Do we hear Him?  Is His Word law to us?  Do we like it when He speaks sharp things as well as smooth things?  Does His Word prevail with us against everything else?  Surely it would help us if we would stop and think that whenever Christ speaks to us the Father is standing by, saying in our ears as it were, "Hear that!"

The transfiguration of our Saviour is of great interest and importance to us, not only because it actually occurred in the past and encourages us now in the present, but for what it teaches us of the future.  For all ages, it is like the vision of the burning bush in which was the presence of God.  The transfiguration promised Christ's disciples then, and His followers now, that there is a glory yet to come.  The glory kindled on the mount of transfiguration shines through the darkness of this world and points to the resurrection day when Christ will come in glory and gather His people--not three only, but all His people of all ages--and they will be with Him forevermore.

DAY 285    Read Matthew 18; Mark 8:27 through 9:1 and verses 30-50; Luke 9:18-27, 43-50.

Today's reading:  Jesus tried over and over to teach His followers the true nature of His mission and the way to salvation.  They had difficulty in learning these lessons.

Memory gem:  "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them"  (Hebrews 7:25).

Thought for today:
A young man had been living a free and easy life, unmindful of any serious claims his God might have upon him.  Then the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart, and he came under deep conviction.  Realizing his lost condition and his great need, he hurried to his pastor for counsel.  He said, "Pastor, I am a lost man."

The minister's startling reply was, "Well, that's fine!"

The young man, desperate and in anguish of soul, said, "But sir, you don't understand.  I tell you that I am a lost man, and you say it's fine.  I am lost!"

"Well, that's good," said the minister.  "Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost."

Young people, I want you to know that the Lord is seeking for those who, like this young man, realize that they are lost and in need of a Saviour.  Just come to Jesus as you are.  Confess your sins to Him; pour out your heart to Him.  He is full of compassion, and He understands.

If something has been holding you back from accepting this wonderful Christ, just bow your head now and ask God to forgive your sins.  Begin a program of daily Bible study.  Get acquainted with the Prince of Peace, the One who can give you peace of mind, the One who has promised to come again.  Then, on that glorious day, we shall all be able to say: "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation"  (Isaiah 25:9).

DAY 284    Read Matthew 15:1 through 16:28; Mark 7:1 through 8:26.

Today's reading:  Jesus' only recorded miracle outside of Palestine proper was performed for a Phonician woman.  Jesus treated the woman in typical Hebrew fashion at first in order to teach His disciples an important lesson.

Memory gem:  "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles?  Yes, of the Gentiles also"  (Romans 3:29).

Thought for today:
"The Saviour's visit to Phoenicia and the miracle there performed had a yet wider purpose.  Not alone for the afflicted woman, nor even for His disciples and those who received their labors, was the work accomplished; but also 'that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name,'  John 20:31.

"The same agencies that barred men away from Christ eighteen hundred years ago are at work today.  The spirit which built up the partition wall between Jew and Gentile is still active.  Pride and prejudice have built strong walls of separation between different classes of men.  Christ and His mission have been misrepresented, and multitudes feel that they are virtually shut away from the ministry of the gospel.  But let them not feel that they are shut away from Christ.  There are no barriers which man or Satan can erect but that faith can penetrate.

"In faith the woman of Phoenicia flung herself against the barriers that had been piled up between Jew and Gentile.  Against discouragement, regardless of appearances that might have led her to doubt, she trusted the Saviour's love.  It is thus that Christ desires us to trust in Him.  The blessings of salvation are for every soul.  Nothing but his own choice can prevent any man from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel."--The Desire of Ages, p. 403.

NOTE:  "Magdala"  (Matthew 15:39) and "Dalmanutha" (Mark 8"10) are probably variant names for the same place.

DAY 283    Read Matthew 14:13-36; Mark 6:30-56; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1 through 7:1.

Today's reading:  Typically human, Peter wanted to show off.  When he took his eyes off Jesus and realized his peril, his boastful faith failed to support him.

Memory gem:  "When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me"  (Matthew 14:30).

Thought for today:
The apostle Peter was tested regarding his trust and faith in Christ, and he was in great fear.

No one can doubt Peter's love for his Master.  The miracle which Jesus was performing in walking on the water, Peter also performed for a time.  But when he transferred his gaze from Jesus to the angry waters, he began to sink because "he was afraid."  Then he prayed the shortest prayer recorded in the Bible: "Lord, save me."

"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"  (Matthew 14:31).

Peter was afraid because he looked upon the stormy billows rather than upon Christ.  His faith failed; he was afraid.  And this lesson is for us.  We are often afraid because we do not look in the right direction.  We look at the trouble, we look at the storm, we look at the battle, rather than to Jesus.

How shall we learn to trust when we are in trouble?  What is the Christian's secret of a happy life?  Here is a text we should never forget, for it tells us to do just what Jesus did:  "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"  (Romans 10:17).

If we listen to the Word of God, if we read the Word of God, if we feed upon the Word of God, it will actually become faith in our hearts and drive away all fear.

All the hundreds of promises in His Word are ours when we believe them.  This is the secret of a happy life, a life of faith.

DAY 282    Read Matthew 9:36 through 11:1; Mark 6:1-29; Matthew 13:54 through 14:12; Luke 9:1-9.

Today's reading:  The ordination of the twelve apostles and the instructions for their mission precede the account of the shameful execution of John the Baptist.

Memory gem:  "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it"  (Matthew 10:39).

Thought for today:
The late A.E. Housman, a professor at Cambridge University, was one of the most distinguished scholars of his time.  In 1933 he gave an address at that university on "The Name and Nature of Poetry."  In it he said that "the most important truth which has ever been uttered, and the greatest moral discovery ever made in the moral world" were these words of Jesus: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life...shall find it."

Now, of course, we have heard preachers say that since we were children.  We have read it ourselves in the New Testament.  But who was Professor Housman?  He was an atheist, a pessimist.  We are told that he even contemplated suicide at one time; yet he declared that the man who thinks only of himself is not living the full life and will not get much of out life.  It was clear even to him, as he looked on life through many years of careful study, that adjustment to this world is not always the happiest and best thing.  Here we find a man who was himself an unbeliever, or at least thought he was, quoting those paradoxical words of Jesus.

"He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."  Willing to give up anything in this world in order to please Christ; willing to do God's will in spite of everything else!  Instead of making our own selfish plans, ideas, and enjoyments the center of living, we are to make the Word and work of Christ central.  We are to do everything for His sake.  Surely we must agree that this is the greatest truth ever uttered, the most profound moral discovery of all time.

----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
Matthew 10:10.  "Shoes"--literally: sandals.  Mark 6:9 says that the apostles were to wear sandals; the context in Matthew indicates that they should not carry an extra pair.
Mark 6:25.  "By and by"--at once.

DAY 281    Read Luke 8:22-56; 5:29-39; Matthew 11:2-30; Luke 7:18-35.

Today's reading:  The third account of the storm, the healing of the demoniac, and other events is followed by the sad story of John the Baptist in prison.

Memory gem:  "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard"  (Luke 7:22).

Thought for today:
"John [the Baptist] was troubled to see that through love for him, his own disciples were cherishing unbelief in regard to Jesus.  Had his work for them been fruitless?  Had he been unfaithful in his mission, that he was now cut off from labor?  If the promised Deliverer had appeared, and John had been found true to his calling, would not Jesus now overthrow the oppressor's power, and set free His herald?

"But the Baptist did not surrender his faith in Christ.  The memory of the voice from heaven and the descending dove, the spotless purity of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit that had rested upon John as he came into the Saviour's presence, and the testimony of the prophetic scriptures--all witnessed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Promised One.

"John would not discuss his doubts and anxieties with his companions.  He determined to send a message of inquiry to Jesus....And he longed for some word from Christ spoken directly for himself.

"The disciples came to Jesus with their message, 'Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?'...

"The Saviour did not at once answer the disciples' question.  As they stood wondering at His silence, the sick and afflicted were coming to Him to be healed.  The blind were groping their way through the crowd; diseased ones of all classes, some urging their own way, some borne by their friends, were eagerly pressing into the presence of Jesus....While He healed their diseases, He taught the people....He spoke to them the words of eternal life.

"Thus the day wore away, the disciples of John seeing and hearing all.  At last Jesus called them to Him and bade them to go and tell John what they had witnessed....The evidence of His divinity was seen in its adaptation to the needs of suffering humanity."--The Desire of Ages, pp. 216, 217.