To be near unto God - pagina 103

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God IS our shield against contagious disease, against the forces of nature, and against death by accident. But this does not mean that we are to sit down passively that God may cover us The imagery of the shield allows no such int^rpretation. On the contrary, that God is a shield against disease and pestilence, against flood and fire, means that with the utmost of our powers we must apply every means of resistance which God has placed at our command; that in prayer we steel our powers to act, and that by faith we have God for our shield, which we must turn against our assailants.

This applies equally to the interests of the Weak interpretation does not cover the It will not do to say that we must avoid sm. No we must strive against it. We must understand that in sin a hostile power attacks us; that the thinking, planning spirit of Satan lurks behind that power; that unbeknown to us It forces Itself upon us and aims to kill the soul; and that, unless we have a shield to cover us, and skill to use it dexteriously, it will surely ^overpower us. God is surely more our shield |in the struggle for the salvation of the soul than jof the body. But it means that we ourselves ^must do battle in behalf of the soul; that we .ourselves must catch the eye of the assailant; that we must raise the sword against him, and gift up the shield to cover the soul. That God ps our shield in this spiritual battle means that •we reach out our hand after God, that we em)loy every spiritual means of resistance at our ;ornmand, and that in doing so we discover that Tod is the shield which by faith we hold up Lgamst Satan. soul. case.

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