Day 25

desire this Bread of Life fervently and eagerly. Those who ‘ hunger and thirst for justice 9 desire it ; and the most perfect act of love is to long incessantly to receive Jesus Christ.

Cwent^stytb ‘ Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us . 9 — Matt. vi. 12, I S* VE us as we forgive 9 God admirably made the pardon we ourselves expect from Him upon that which we are commanded to grant to all who have offended us. Not satisfied with continually laying down the rule of our obligation in this matter, He puts the utterance of it into our own mouths in our daily prayer, so that if we fail in forgiveness He may say to us, as He did to the servant in the parable : — ‘ Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant.’ 1 That is: ‘You beg my forgiveness on condition of forgiving others yourself : you pronounced your own sentence when you refused to pardon your brother. Depart to that un1 Luke xix. 22.

happy place where neither pardon nor mercy is found ! * This is what Christ insists upon here ; and He explains it still more terribly in the parable of the unjust steward.

t 94 ] Gwent$*0eventb Ba> Lead us not into temptation , but deliver us from evil. — Matt. vi. 13.

E do not say ‘ Lead us not into temptation * merely to escape yielding to the temptation, but to prevent its coming to us, according to the injunction : i Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation/ 1 We must fear the c entering in/ as well as the falling.

These words set forth the necessity for praying at all times : — both when need is actually pressing, and before it presses. Never wait for the temptation to come, for then trouble and anxiety of mind will hinder your praying properly. Pray before the temptation, and so forestall the enemy. God c tempteth no man/ 2 says St James. Hence, when we say ‘ lead us not into temptation 9 we must clearly understand it to mean c Do not let us enter into it . 9 This is 1 Matt. xxvi. 41.

1 James i. 13.

what St Paul says : — ‘ God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able ’ 1 : — but our ability lies chiefly in our prayers.

‘ Deliver us from evil.’ The Church expands this into ‘ deliver us from all evil : past, present, and to come/ ‘ Past evil/ which still leaves bad effects, is sin already committed ; ‘ present evil 9 is sin that we may be now committing ; and ‘evil to come’ is sin that we fear we shall commit. All other evils are nothing, except in so far as they may cause us to sin by murmuring and impatience. It is principally in view of this possibility that we ask to be delivered from any other misfortunes.

‘ Deliver us from evil 9 : — Deliver us from sin, and the consequences of sin : — therefore, from disease, sorrow, and death, so that we may be perfectly free. Then indeed shall we be supremely happy !

Another version has : c Deliver us from the evil one 9 : that is, from our enemy the devil with all his temptations.

When we beg for strength against temptation, it is not only against the devil, but against ourselves as well, according to St James. ‘But 1 i Cor. x. 13.