He was eaten up
always and wholly of the zeal of His Father's house, and of absolute
surrender and devotion to His Father's service, till His ruling passion
was seen to be as strong in His death as it had been in His life. The
Laird of Brodie's Diary has repeatedly been of great use to us in these
inward matters, and his words on this subject are well worth repeating.
'We poor creatures,' he says, 'are commanded by our affections and
passions. They are not at our command. But the Holy One doth exercise
all His attributes at His own will; they are at His command; they are not
passions nor perturbations in His mind, though they transport us. When I
would hate, I cannot. When I would love, I cannot. When I would grieve,
I cannot. When I would desire, I cannot. But it is the better for us
that all is as He wills it to be.'
And now, to come still closer home, let us look for a moment or two at
some of our own ruling and tyrannising passions. And let us look first
at self-love--that master-passion in every human heart. Let us give self-
love the first place in the inventory and catalogue of our passions,
because it has the largest place in all our hearts and lives.
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