Model of Men

Preparatory Prayer:

"Thou art my God and I will praise Thee; Thou art my God and I will exalt Thee ... O praise ye the Lord ... for His mercy endureth forever." Psalm 117.

Setting:

Evening time and Our Lord and His disciples draw near a village. He sends two of them on ahead to see if they can procure lodgings and Himself waits, seated on the boundarystone, till they come back to report. As He sits there in the sunlight, the farmers begin to walk up from the adjoining fields, on their way into the village after a hard day's work. They are mostly silent for they are weary, carrying their spades across their shoulders. Their womenfolk set out, all of them together, for the well; fetching water morning and evening was their task and they usually went together so as to have each other's company. The children run on in front or loiter behind, laughing and playing with each other. The sick, too, are brought out at this time so that they may enjoy the cool breezes. The people begin to notice this Man, Who is watching everything; word is whispered around that He is Jesus of Nazareth. They must gather, and I with them, to look upon Him and hear Him. That is my object in seeking this place of prayer.

Fruit:

Knowledge, love, and imitation of Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Sometimes you have seen a picture flung on the screen from a projector lantern. The picture, at first, is out of focus and looks only like an ugly daub of confused color

But little by little the operator adjusts the lens till you exclaim: "Yes, you have it now. That is perfect." What a few minutes ago was so obscure has now become a beautiful picture, every detail sharply defined.

The task of every soul in this world is, each day, to become more and more like Jesus Christ. He is the model, perfect, divine, and He would have us keep our eyes always upon Him, in order to do the things He does, speak as He speaks, think His thoughts and live for His ideals. Because He is God we are well aware that we shall never be wholly transformed into His image, but each effort of each day resembles an adjustment of the lens that serves to bring the picture into better perspective.

An architect, before building a house, will draw up his plan, and, as the building advances, will check its progress by constant reference to that plan. Every stone is placed, every wall is raised, windows and roof are set up, just exactly according to what had previously been decided upon in drawing up the plan. Jesus is our plan. We look constantly to Him - to see what He does, in order to do it; to learn why He does it, in order to act ourselves from the same motive; to study Him in His different relations with men and circumstances, in order ourselves to try to act as we see Him acting.

In parentheses, we remind ourselves that He is much more than all this to us, but, in this meditation, He would have us confine ourselves to a prayerful study of Him from this particular angle.

I would know You, my Jesus, not as I know some notable historical character, nor even with the knowledge of the mere student of theology. I would know You, not merely from what I read in books, not merely from what I hear in sermons. I would know You intimately through my own personal contact with You in prayer. This is the sort of knowledge that makes the soul enthusiastic in its love and impels it to prove its love by becoming each day more like You. Give it to me, Lord; at least lead me to experience its beginnings.