Acts 27

Children Of The South Wind

The south wind blew softly. Acts 27:13.

Today we are going to have a talk about South-wind people.

Now, of course, the South wind is the exact opposite of the North wind, and so, as you might expect, South-wind people are in many ways the exact opposite of North-wind people. When we speak of a South wind, we generally think of a soft, gentle breeze. It brings to our minds summer and flowers and new-mown grass, just as the North wind recalls to us frost and snow and storms. So the children of the South wind are quiet, gentle, and easy-going, and they are to be found more frequently among the girls than among the boys.

Now we could not get along without our South-wind people any more than we could without our North- wind friends. They are very soothing and very lovable, and it is among them that you must look for the peacemakers of the world.

But the South-wind people are not perfect any more than are their North-wind cousins, and they are more likely to spoil their lives by their defects than are the children of any other wind.

The great danger of the South-wind people lies in their softness. They are too yielding, too easily led. Things which would just create opposition in a North-wind person and make him don all his armor, easily gain the victory over them. They don't like to say “no”; they don't like to make a fuss; they don't like to be unpopular. And so they give in to temptation rather than make a stand.

I know that there are some gentle people who are much more determined and much more difficult to move than the noisy ones are, but I am not thinking of them today. I am thinking of the easy-going folk who allow themselves to drift rather than make an effort to resist.

And then the children of the South wind are a little just a little inclined to laziness. It is a way South winds have. When that wind begins to blow, a sleepy, lazy feeling comes over us. We want to close our books and go out to the garden or into the country to drink in the soft, sweet breezes.

And so South-wind people are rather self-indulgent and fond of ease. They are a little wanting in backbone; they won't stick in; they are lacking in perseverance. And the result is that those who have less ability easily pass them in the race of life. Don't you think it is a pity they should be defeated just for the want of a little effort? Don't you think it is a pity that all their splendid talent should be lost to the world?

For it is from among our South-wind people that we get so many of our poets and our painters. Just because of their dreaminess they can see things that those of us with ordinary everyday eyes cannot see.

Oh, South-wind people, don't waste your lives! Don't throw away your gifts! If you only will, you can make the world more beautiful for us than can the children of any other wind that blows. For you come from the land of sunshine, and you can make the flowers to blossom and the little birds to sing.

In the Book of Job we have a picture of the South wind at its worst. It is a picture of a sirocco the terrible sultry wind which comes from the burning desert and silences and stills everything before it. The sky is like brass; not a leaf stirs; the birds hide in the thickest shades; the flocks and herds take shelter in caves. The hot, dry breath of the air seems to burn and scorch to the very bona And that is a picture, too, of what South-wind people may become. They may fritter away their lives till they come to nothingness and desolation. All the joy and beauty of life may depart from them.

But in the Song of Songs there is another picture a picture of the South wind blowing upon a garden and filling the air with the scent of sweet spices. And that is a picture of the South wind at its best.

Boys and girls of the South wind, Jesus can make your lives fragrant. It is He alone who can save you from the dangers of your nature. He can smooth away the rough corners of the North-wind people, and He can make you strong and brave. Some of the South-wind people have become the noblest of men and women. And what He has done before He can do again. He can turn your softness into firmness, your weakness into strength, your flaws into beauty.

Boys and girls of the South wind, won't you give Him a chance? (The texts of the other sermons in this series are: Exodus 10:19; Exodus 14:21; Ezekiel 1:4.)