IDEALS
Poem★★★★In one of Kipling’s fine poems we read of a man ex- ploring a new region. As he left the fringe of civilization he heard a voice within, telling him that beyond was still a better country. The way was difficult. There were natu- ral barriers which seemed to forbid the venture.
Yet again the voice! This time, he obeyed, crossed the mountain range, and looked in wonder at the land before him.
The voice had awakened valor; obedience had brought bless- ing. So God is always seeking to lead us on to greater achievement and truer living, Are we slack, self-compla- cent, content with ourselves—or willing?—J. W. G.
Ward, 2D. In a sermon one Sunday a great Scotch preacher, flung out this challenge: ‘““Do you believe a day is coming, really coming, when you will stand before the throne of - God, and the angels will whisper together and say, ‘How _ like Christ he is?’ ” You do not find it easy to believe that.
And yet that is the teaching of the New Testament. Christ came into the world to help men become something far different from what they have been. Through belief in Him they may become like Him. Nothing stands out more clearly in the Gospels or in the long history of the church than that Christ releases power to help people become the kind of persons they know they ought to be.
The change wrought in men like Peter, Zacchaeus, and Paul is lasting proof that none of 193
The point
Kipling's poem of an explorer hearing a voice urging him onward beyond barriers. God calls us to greater achievement and to become like Christ, not settle for mediocrity.