The Spring at the Hill
He shall drink of the brook in the way.” — PsaLM cx. 7.
‘*T BEHELD then that they all went on till they came to the foot of the Hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which was a spring. Christian now went to the spring and drank thereof to refresh himself; and then he began to go up the hill.” There is never any hill where that spring may not be found. Whenever life’s goings pass from the easy level to the steep gradient the Lord provides the refreshing spring. There are still waters just where He begins to lead me to the climbing and difficult ‘‘ ways of righteousness.”” Samuel Rutherford used to say that whenever he found himself in the cellars of affliction he began to busy himself in looking for the King’s wine. And whenever a pilgrim of Jesus finds himself face to face with some exacting duty in the highway of the Lord it will be his wisdom to look about for the springs of inspiration which the Lord of the way has most surely provided.
On the reverse side of every duty may be found a corresponding gift of grace. Every call of the Lord has its complement in spiritual equipment. Every commandment is an inverted promise. All the demands of our God may be interpreted in the terms of His love. The measure of the one is the revealer of the other. A great calling means an equal bounty. If His commandment is exceeding broad it is because His love is exceeding deep. ‘‘ As thy day so shall thy strength be.” Reckon the hardness of the mission as the index of the endowment. Turn the duties round and think of them as the invitations of grace. Is there a steep hill before me? Then what a spring there must be! Is there hardship before me? Then what intimacies of divine friendship must be calling me! Is it to be a long, long road? Then what brooks I shall find by the way!
The trouble is, we see the hill and forget the spring. We take our task as a duty and not as a communion. And so life becomes a statute and notasong. There is obedience but no devotion. Yes, there is duty but no piety, which means that we accept the hill and reject the spring. And yet the spring is there! ‘* Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!” ‘‘ He shall drink of the brook in the way.”