TAKING GOD'S BEST OR HIS SECOND BEST.
[From Sunday School Times.] The time had come for transplanting the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. Moses had been in unconscious training for leadership in this great emigration. Finally he is convinced that the hour of action has come. But when he fairly faces the task he shrinks. The dramatic narrative in Exodus represents the severe spiritual struggle between inclination and duty under the aspect of protracted conversations between Jehovah and Moses. Jehovah—"Come now, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people Israel out of Egypt." Moses—"Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Jehovah—"Certainly I will be with thee." Moses—"O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." Jehovah—"Who hath made man's mouth? Is it not I, Jehovah? I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak." Moses—"O Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send" (by any one but me). Jehovah—"Is not there Aaron thy brother? I know that he can speak well. He shall be to thee a mouth." God's purpose for Moses was to make him sole leader of a great emancipation, sole founder of the nation that was to have an unparalleled influence on the destinies of mankind. For this work God had given him the best possible training. Beyond any contemporary of whom we have any knowledge Moses was6equipped to be a statesman. Jehovah no more took him than He takes any man at any time and thrusts him into a place too large and difficult for him. If we are where God designs us to be, we may certainly be fitted for our duties. Pride or ambition may put us into too large a place, timidity or indolence into too small a place, ignorance or prejudice into a place for which we have no qualifications; but if we have reverently sought the indications of divine providence, sincerely tried to follow divine guidance, been docile and obedient, we may feel assured that we are where God wants us, and that He wants us just here because He has Himself seen to it that we are prepared to be just here. Now to Jehovah's offer of a work so great and glorious that any human being may well have coveted it,—of the sole guidance of this work, of an exclusive partnership with Himself,—Moses says: "No; I can not accept such a trust. Send by any one but me." But he is not thus, or in any way, to escape his task. God wants him, and will have him. Yet, because of Moses' fear and distrust, it will be under conditions less favorable than God at first intended. "You say you can not speak, even tho I have promised to speak through your lips. Very well. Here is thy brother Aaron. He is an eloquent man. Take him as thy helper." Thus it is finally arranged. God has urged upon Moses His best,—Himself. Moses has refused, and insisted on having God's second best,—Aaron. What an unwise choice! How scant the help that Aaron brought! He was to speak for Moses; that even he did very seldom. For the most part Aaron stood by, silent, while Moses dealt with Pharaoh. And there is no record that Aaron had any share in persuading the Hebrews. But, more still, he became a thorn in the side of the greater brother. He became jealous, and influenced their sister Miriam to become jealous also. He turned the people to idolatry. Moses' task was hard enough at best, but vastly harder because he had chosen Aaron to speak for him instead of God to speak through him, a human helper instead of a divine, Jehovah's second best instead of His best. He wishes us to be saved, in all the full meaning of that great word; forgiven, cleansed, matured, made like unto our Lord. If we are unsaved, it is not God's fault. It is only because we are refusing His best, our personal salvation, and choosing His second best, the general, diffused, social benefits of Christianity. There are two principal reasons why Moses missed God's best, and why we miss it. Moses did not exercise good common sense in refusing to trust Jehovah. No doubt he thought himself particularly shrewd. "I am not to be caught napping. I shall take no chances. I understand myself. I know that I'm no speaker." That sounds like fine modesty and unusual self-knowledge, but in view of Jehovah's offers of aid it is plain unbelief. Similarly we deceive ourselves. A neighbor and friend of the writer said recently: "I take care of one world at a time. I am doing my best daily in this world. If I ever reach another, I will try to do my best also in that." Very plausible, but this man acted thus only in religion. In youth he prepared for maturity, each day for each to-morrow. He was a man of faith, only he shut faith out of the one great realm where it is most needed. This is wrong, but it is also foolish; it prevents God from giving His best. We may have His best, or His second best. The choice is ours. But we can have the latter only by refusing the former.