HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

“O earth, earth, earth — hear the word of the Lord!” Jeremiah 22:29

If I go down into hopeless captivity, it is not for lack of abundant expostulation.

There are voices of the Bible. The prophets still speak with me, the evangelists, and the apostles. Now in admonition, and now in tenderest promise — they entreat me to consider the things which pertain to my peace. When I open the Scriptures, I am in contact with a living person, and that person is God.

There are voices of providence. Little things that happen every day remind me of the hideousness of evil — and the beauty of holiness. And sometimes a startling event, a piercing sorrow, a shattering bereavement — rouses me from my sleep to feel the near and solemn and blessed presence of God. He lays His hand on me.

There are voices of friends. Had I not a mother who prayed for me, as Monica prayed for Augustine? Have I not a sister, a wife, a little child, “to cheer me on the tedious way, to fetch me when I go astray, to lift me when I totter down?” They are calling me home to the Father. They are the heralds of the King.

There are inner voices of conscience and heart.

In the name of Christ,
the desire for pardon,
the passion for purity,
the longing for God —
steal unbidden into my soul. It is like Jesus standing, in the Garden of the Sepulcher, behind Mary, and, though unseen, making His presence felt all the while.

Can I say “No” to all the voices of so loving a Lord? What more, what more, could He do for His vineyard? Why, when He looked that it should bring forth grapes — did it bring forth wild grapes?