Luke 24:29

ABIDE WITH US

‘Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’

Luke 24:29

‘Abide with us.’—It is the prayer of two men; two men to whom God came. It is the only Easter-tide prayer recorded for us, and it is an ideal prayer for ourselves.

I. The journey to Emmaus is as the journey of life.—We walk along by twos, or, more often, all alone. And life is perplexing. Things outside trouble us, and sometimes things within. We don’t understand. Things seem somehow as if they could not be right. All things do not seem just and fair. Our hearts grow faint and sick with trying to understand—trying to trust.

II. We need the presence of God.—We want some one to talk to—some one who knows and can explain. It is this that makes men go off after strange teachers, any one who promises them light. It is not so much that they want heaven hereafter, they want light now. What is our prayer? We are Christians—members of Christ, children of God, inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. Surely God is near. ‘Abide with us!’ Yes, the prayer for the knowledge of the ceaseless presence of God is the prayer for men and women to-day.

III. Let us keep an open door for Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God.—Let there be always a place in our hearts where He may abide. There may be difficulties in the inspiration of Scripture, in the origin and interpretation of our sacred books. There may be difficulties and sorrows in a broken-up Church—a divided Christendom. There may be perplexities in the things that come to our lives and the lives of our dear ones. The journey of life may be hard and growing harder. Let us keep our eyes open to see the tokens of the presence of Jesus. Let faith ever hold fast to the words, ‘Lo, I am ever with you.’ Is it so? Then, Lord, I fear not. I will believe. I will be true. I will be patient. Lord Jesus, by Thee we can do all things. Abide with us.’

Bishop E. W. Osborne.

Illustration

‘How beautiful is this revelation of the risen Jesus! It sparkles with light, does it not? Let us learn from it of Him, for what He was that day He is still. He has not changed; Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. What shall we learn, then, from it? Realise the presence of the living Jesus in our daily life. Look for Him as He comes to us in the daytime of our work. Seek Him in the everyday actions, in the daily round, in the common task. Find Him in the most commonplace things. Remember Jesus is essentially human, whilst He is truly Divine, very Man as well as very God. Nothing that has to do with our humanity is foreign to Him. Bear in mind that He is never nearer to us than when we are sad. He has so much in common with sorrow, for He was the very Man of Sorrows Himself. As it has been beautifully said, He consecrates our saddest walks, our hardest roads, our longest journeys. Learn how to deal with doubt—our own, or the doubts of other people. Jesus bids us be patient with doubts; patient with ourselves, with others. He tells us how He ever manifests Himself to the honest doubter. He promises us that He will be with us in our doubt, although we may not recognise Him; though not perhaps until the evening overtakes us, as darkness and the night of death comes over us, we shall know that He has been with us all the time.’