Still, there is a use for thorns. What is that use?
First, if you have thorns about you today, make a
child’s use of them. What does a child do? If he gets a
thorn in his finger, he looks at it, and cries. How it
smarts! Then he runs off to his mother. That is one of
the sweet uses of his adversity, it admits him to his
mother at once. She might say, “What are you coming in
for? Run about the garden.” But he cries, “Please,
mother, I’ve got a thorn in my finger.” This is quite
enough argument to secure him the best attention of the
queen of the house. See how tenderly she takes out the
little dagger! Let your cares drive you to God. I shall
not mind if you have many of them if each one leads you
to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the
Beloved, it will be a benefit. Thus make good use of
the thorns.
Another service to which thorns may be put is to make a
hedge of them, to keep the goats of worldly pleasure
from eating the young shoots of your graces. Let the
sorrows of life keep off temptations which else might
do you serious mischief.
May we meet in heaven! Oh, may we all meet in heaven!
What a congregation I have addressed this morning! I
feel overawed as I look at you. From the ends of the
earth have many of you come. The Lord bless you!
Strangers are here in vast numbers, for the most of our
regular hearers are at the seaside. I may never see you
again on earth. May we all meet in heaven, where thorns
will never grow! May we be gathered by the angels in
that day when the Lord shall say, “Gather the wheat
into my barn”! Amen. So let it be.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
