April 19

He shall be great in the sight of the Lord. — Luke i. 15.

So spake the angel who foretold the birth of John the Baptist. April 19.

*’ In the sight of the Lord. Then men are not on a dead level

in His eyes. Though He is so high and we are so low, the country

beneath Him that He looks down upon is not flattened to Him, as it is to

us from an elevation, but there are greater and smaller men in His sight,

too. No epithet is more misused and misapplied than that of “a great

man.” It is flung about as indiscriminately as ribbons and orders are by

some petty state. Every little man that makes a noise for awhile gets it

hung round his neck. Think what a set they are that are gathered in the

world’s Valhalla, and honoured as the world’s great men 1 The mass of

people are so much on a level, and that level is so low that an inch above

the average looks gigantic. But the tallest blade of grass gets mown down

by the scythe, and withers as quickly as the rest of its green companions,

and goes its way into the oven as surely. There is the world’s false

estimate of greatness and there is God’s estimate. If we want to know

what the elements of true greatness are, we may well turn to the life

of this man, of whom the prophecy went before him, that he should be

“great in the sight of the Lord.” That is gold that will stand the test.

We may remember, too, that Jesus Christ, looking back on the career to which the angel was looking forward, endorsed the prophecy, and declared that it had become a fact, and that “of them that were born of woman there had not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.” There is no characteristic which may not be attained by any man, woman, or child amongst us. “The least in the Kingdom of Heaven” may be greater than he. It is a poor ambition to seek to be called “great.” It is a noble desire to be “great in the sight of the Lord.” And if we will keep ourselves close to Jesus Christ that will be attained. It will matter very little what men think of us if at last we have praise from the lips of Him who poured such praise on His servant. We may, if we will. And then it will not hurt us though our names on earth be dark, and our memories perish from among men.

*’0f so much fame in Heaven expect thy meed.”