Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/354

 ix. 59.) This  call  was  a  great  mercy  and  favor  on  the part  of  God,  and  yet  the  disciple  wished  not  to  accept of  it  without  making  his  own  conditions.  He  wished first  to  bury  his  father  who  was  dying,  or,  as  others  explain the  passage,  he  wished  to  take  care  of  him  until  he died,  and  then  enter  seriously  into  the  service  of  God. Thus,  many  wish  to  serve  God,  but  according  to  their own  ideas,  and  after  they  have  gained  some  desired  object in  the  world,  enjoyed  some  of  its  pleasures,  or  gratified some  favorite  feeling.  After  this  is  accomplished, when  life  can  no  longer  be  coupled  with  pleasure,  they are  willing  to  surrender  their  old  age  to  God,  to  virtue and  religion.  How  often  are  such  characters  disappointed!

II. Our Lord  answered,  "Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead, but  go  thou  and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God." Thus He teaches  us  to  prefer  God  to  our  parents,  friends  and kindred. He does  not  forbid  us  to  love  them,  nor  to perform  our  duty  toward  them,  but  He  wishes  natural affection to  be  secondary  to  the  Divine  service. He wishes His  disciples  to  throw  off  all  carnal  affection; and hence  He  says  in  another  place,  "  If  any  man  come to  Me,  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother,  and  wife  and children,  and  brethren  and  sisters  (that  is,  love  them  less than  the  service  of  God),  he  cannot  be  My  disciple." (Luke xiv.  26.)

III. Christ calls  those  dead  who  live  for  the  world  and in sin. There are  two  kinds  of  death,  one  of  the  body and the  other  of  the  soul. The body  dies  when  the  soul is separated  from  it,  and  the  soul  dies  when  it  is  separated from  God  by  sin. Christ therefore  says,  let  those that are  dead  to  God  take  care  of  those  that  are  dead  to the  world:  but  do  you  take  care  to  preserve  the  life  of your  soul,  lest  you  fall  into  sin  and  be  cast  off  from  the