Dangers in Life's Noontide

As the grass of the field is nourished by the gentle dews of the night, flourishes in the dawning light of a new day, and endures the blazing heat of the noontide, only to be cut down in the evening, so a man's brief day on earth is divided into three periods—the morn­ing time of growth and inexperience, the noontide of endurance, and the eventide of maturity. (See Ps. 103:15 ; 90:5, 6.)

Each period is beset with its own peculiar dangers and pitfalls, and these dangers do not lessen as the day of life proceeds. While they vary in detail, they increase in pressure. The worker who recently made the statement that he did not find life at the noontide of his existence so difficult as he had found its morn­ing hours to be, must have been so completely mesmerized as to be unable to recognize his condition. It is not singular that editorial comment should be to quite an extent con­centrated on counsel to youth, for authors and scholars who write books are usually middle-aged, and, because they sometimes have been through hard and bitter experiences, they feel prepared to give counsel to those who follow in their footsteps. But how many articles are being published, and how many sermons are being preached, on the perils of the noonday?

There is a "destruction that wasteth at noon­day" that mercilessly attacks every soul who is not abiding "under the shadow of the Al­mighty." Consider the various snares which are set before the man who is carrying heavy responsibility, and let each search his own heart to see whether he is really dwelling "in the secret place of the Most High." The Bible is full of illustrations that recount for us the termitic destruction of leaders chosen by God, with the hope of demonstrating through them the eternal plan for the overcoming of evil. What a heartache it must be to God to see a man who, in his youth, was strong, stalwart, and pure, follow such guidance as will one day cause him to choose the wrong path and orostitute his divinely given powers on the altar of personal pride, lust, or professional jealousy.

When, after receiving instruction from the Lord, Moses changed the age-old plan of hav­ing the first-born given the work of the priest­hood, and announced that the office would hereafter be confined to the house of Aaron, Korah saw his aspirations crash like a house of cards. He began a whispering campaign against the leaders, and spread his feelings of jealousy and dissatisfaction among other first­born members of the company, until he suc­ceeded in convincing at least two hundred and fifty princes that they were actin.- in the in­terests of Israel and in the zeal of the Lord. We are not told just what qualities Korah cherished in his youth that produced such a harvest in his middle age, but God gave him opportunity to deliberately make his choice, and placed him where in the conduct of his work, the weaker traits would show up.

The damaging experience of a man's life comes not so much in the days of inexperience as in the days of leadership, when, in the full glare of the midday sun, the seeds of sin ger­minate and produce an awful harvest. See the havoc of professional jealousy ! Is it among us ? A Sabbath school teacher thought the superintendent did not show him the favor which he had extended to another, and started a whispering campaign that split the church. An evangelist gave Monday night to his as­sistant, because in his heart he thought it to be an "off night." The people enjoyed hearing the assistant more than they did the evangelist. Monday nights the hall was packed; so the evangelist changed the program and took Mon­day night himself. When he learned that the assistant was preferred above him, he had him moved to a new location. And so on ad infinitum!

Brethren, how can our young people be at­tracted to lives of sacrifice and devotion when there are so many Korahs among us older ones who are falling prey to the propensities of self^­ishness? O that something could be written or said that would draw us all to the foot of the cross!

Instead of trying to think God's thoughts after him, Solomon molded his kingdom after the fashions of the neighboring kingdoms. It was a time when, throughout the Near East, monarchs were trying to solve international problems through marriage alliances. Solomon digressed from the clear instruction of God in this matter, and received the princesses from other nations into his harem. Only a step more provided them places where they could worship their national deities. Soon they turned his heart against Jehovah—all this in the heyday of his power. From a young man who so fully gave himself to God, he was stricken down in the noonday by con­formity to worldly custom and a refusal to engage in creative thinking.

What more dangerous malady can strike this remnant people today than worldly gregarian­ism? How grave a danger that, instead of doing independent thinking, we become mere collectors of the thoughts of other men, men who are not imbued with the vision of God, and who, with scissors and paste, pass on pleasing, palatable philosophies, failing to see in the fruit of our toil the denial of great fundamental principles which were laid down by our heavenly Father for the guidance of our lives! A student is assigned a research topic that demands original thinking. Instead of gathering facts and blazing new trails, he contents himself with mulling over a dozen different theories, and finally chooses the one that most appeals to his fancy. He marks the facts opposing his scheme pianissimo, and those which emphasize his argument fortissimo, just as do the majority of modern writers.

Who is not led to greatly admire the young man David as he stands stiffly against the bitter assaults of Saul? Persecution and hard­ship seem to be the very environment in which he thrives. He comes to the throne humble and unspoiled. Thirteen years of opposition have not, however, taken from him the power of appetite. A pretty face and an inviting smile sap from him in his mature years all the vital principles for which he so long fought. Covetousness, adultery, false witness, and mur­der are an unexpected harvest in his life. Had these come earlier in life, they might have been placed at the door of inexperience, but with such a background as David had, such an explanation is impossible. Oh, the bitter­ness of self-indulgence!

A young man was attending camp meeting. Downtown one afternoon he saw one of the visiting ministers walk slowly along, hesitate before a cinema, look quickly about him, and dart inside. Illustrations of the power of appe­tite that have led so many of our workers into moral delinquencies are so fresh in all our minds that they do not need specific mention.

Brethren, are we whom God has placed in very responsible positions in this cause to become a byword among those who do not profess the name of Christ? Is there not something that can be done in the house of prayer that the Spirit of God may touch the hearts of us all, so that as leaders in the very prime of life we may receive such a miracle-working power in our own lives as will start the longed-for reformation?

Although the Bible abounds in stories of failure in the heat of the day, there have also been those through the ages who seem to have weathered the gale. Think of Joseph, whose environment was anything but favorable, who, in the heat of the noontide, became the savior of his race; of Job, whose faith in the unseen leading of an all-wise Father made possible his story for the unfolding of God's real pur­pose in the sufferings of Christ; of Jacob, whose heart longings led him to endure the greatest possible cleansing of soul, and brought him forth triumphant in faith in God's prom­ises; of Daniel, whose leadership in days of crisis grew out of a deep humility and a will­ingness to accept responsibility.