we could be loving, as every mother knows!

This is the second and greater River of Life that flows from Calvary. We see that the Lord God is personally fond of us all, that He is completely absorbed in His Creation, and follows even the fifth sparrow with His eye. His delights have always been with the Sons of Men (Proverbs 8:31), and from them He deigns to form a company to be known as His Son's Bride, a figure which describes the greatest possible intimacy and satisfaction.

Righteousness and Justice are necessary plants in the World's Garden, but they cannot bear its choicest fruits. It is only the Tree of Perfect Love that can fully satisfy, and more than satisfy. The revelation of the Love of God for us leads us into such heights of thought and feeling as seem almost inconceivable, as we realise that God desires, not just to save us from destruction, but to lead us to the glory of a Heavenly Throne (Luke 22:29-30; Revelation 3:21). David said that it was God's gentleness that had made him great (Psalm 18:35). The last attribute that the world ascribes to God is gentleness, for their God is Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4), and He is cruel and fierce. Actually, however, God is meek and lowly and understanding and forgiving, and longs to give us rest to our souls (Matthew 11:29). We can put our whole confidence in Him, for if He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, we can be sure that there is no good thing that He will not give with Him. We find ourselves in the position of beggar boys, who have been adopted by a King and put into training for high office in his kingdom. Daniel, the prisoner of war; Joseph the slave, had similar experiences of life, and shall God be less magnanimous and surprising than Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh? God's ambitions for those who love Him are limitless, and only as the Ages of Eternity roll on shall we learn the full