HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

“And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.” Judges 8:4

Exhausted with travel and abstinence, they refused to abandon their quest. This is the portrait of the good soldier of Jesus Christ.

I desire the concentration of this character. I would have a “chief end” which governs my thinking, my speaking, and my doing. I oscillate, like the pendulum, between different sets of things. I drift, like the boat with no one at the helm to guide it into port. Henceforward let me have a purpose — to be perfect as my Father is perfect. Let me have a goal — the likeness of Jesus which lures me on.

I desire the courage of this character. Little Faith, whom the three rogues — Faint-Heart and Mistrust and Guilt, rob and wound — I resemble him too often. But I will covet now the name of Mr. Valiant or Mr. Standfast. O Lord, who gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might You give strength — grant me sustained bravery.

And I desire the perseverance of this character. At many a door, I knock, and I find no sympathy. I ask for bread — and I receive a stone. And my adversaries do not relax their vigilance. But forward my chariot must move. Upward my soul must press. I have food to eat that the world knows nothing of, and refreshment comes to me from unseen hands.

And at the end, what will there be? Rest? Yes, but far more than the rest. Once the Captain of my salvation was faint and yet pursued; nothing could turn Him back. And today He has a Name which is above every name. In His honour and dominion, He will invite me to share.