A Day with Christ

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 27, 1857

A Day with Christ.

It may enable one the better to realize what it is to live with Christ, to conceive of him as being present bodily as he was with the first disciples. Suppose then that Christ is at your side, just as he was daily with Peter or John, are you quite willing to have him observe all your conduct, to know how you are occupied, what you say and do through all

the day? He is not present as an austere censor, but as a personal friend, kind, patient, forbearing; yet he is pure and holy, and is grieved and offended at any departure from the perfect law of rectitude and love. And now with Christ thus at your side, you are supposed to act naturally in all respects as you are accustomed to do, assuming nothing for the occasion. How far are you prepared to submit to the personal inspection of Christ? He enters the family. He rejoices in the genial play of affection, and in the innocent mirth of the fireside. The little prattler on your knee engages his attention and receives his caresses. He is a cheerful, affectionate, considerate visitor, entering with interest into every subject relating to your happiness. But what impression does the general, the usual course of affairs in the family produce upon the mind of such an observer? How much place is given to religion? Is God honored in your house? Is your family worship so conducted—I speak it reverently—that Christ himself could join in it, or could at least be an approving spectator? How much of the conversation of the family is upon topics agreeable to Christ? And to what extent is your conversation upon domestic affairs and secular things characterized by a tone of natural and cheerful piety—the recognition of God's providence, of moral obligation, and of the superior importance of spiritual things?

In the whole economy of the household, in the intercourse of the several members of the family with each other, how much is there of the spirit of kindness, subduing irascibility and fretfulness, and causing the day to glide smoothly and pleasantly onward? How far are your expenses, your style of living, the education of your children, in a word, all your domestic arrangements, regulated so as to meet the approbation of Christ? Endeavor thus to entertain Christ in your family for a day, and you may discover whether you do truly live with him.

From the family, Christ now accompanies you to your place of business. He observes your deportment in your intercourse with the world. He is with you in the counting-room, he is with you in the shop, wherever you go, Christ is at your side; whatever you say or do Christ is a witness of it. He sees with what temper you bear the disappointments and vexations of the day; he sees upon what principles you conduct your business, and for what end; whether you are in haste to be rich, or whether, while "not slothful in business," you are still "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Christ stands by you when you are making a bargain, knows whether you speak the truth, or take advantage of your neighbor. If you act just as you are accustomed to do, how much will Christ see in you to approve, and that will cause him to rejoice in such a representative? how much that will cause him to blush for the honor of his name?

From your family and your place of business, Christ next goes with you into society. Perhaps the company to which you introduce him is a circle of relatives, or of Christian friends, who have met for social entertainment. Such a company ought to be congenial to his tastes and feelings. Does it prove to be so? Is your deportment and that of your fellow-Christian in the social circle, are your topics of conversation and methods of entertainment such that Christ will feel quite at home there, and, as a cheerful friend, can participate therein?

Leaving these scenes Christ next attends you to your closet. He observes whether you resort thither cheerfully, or by constraint of conscience and of habit; whether you enter it in a hurry, and after a hurried prayer and a listless mechanical reading of the Scriptures, rush forth again to the world of business or of pleasure, where your heart has mainly been; or whether your closet is a favorite resort, which you delight to seek, and where you love to linger, that you may hold near and intimate converse with him. Are you willing that Christ should thus enter your closet with you?

He attends you also to the prayer-meeting, and to the house of God. He knows what passes in your mind before going,—whether you go cheerfully or of constraint, after a long conflict between duty and inclination. He knows what preparation you make for these social and public religious services and in what spirit—for he reads the heart—you engage in them. Would you be willing to perform these duties as you are accustomed to do, with Christ at your side as a close observer?

And in the same manner Christ takes notice of what you do for his cause. He knows whether you visit the poor, converse with the impenitent, seek out the vicious and degraded, and in what spirit you perform such labors. Are you quite willing that Christ should see and know, as a personal observer, just what you are doing for his cause?

If you will endeavor thus to conceive of Christ as with you in the body, for a single day, you may judge how far you truly live with him.—Sel.