March 06, 2011 (be of good comfort)

“‘Be perfect, be of good comfort.’
- II Cor. 13:11

A glance at the words is enough
to make us feel how contradictory they are.
Be perfect —
that is a word that strikes us with despair;
at once we feel how faraway we are
from our own poor ideal,
and alas! how much farther
from God's ideal concerning us.
Be of good comfort —
ah, that is very different!
That seems to say,
‘Do not fret; do not fear.
If you are not what you would be,
you must be thankful for what you are.’
Now the question is this —
How can these two be reconciled?
It is only the religion of Jesus Christ
that reconciles them.
He stands in our midst,
and with the right hand of His righteousness
He pointeth us upward, and saith, ‘Be perfect.’
There is no resting place short of that.
Yet with the left hand of His love
He doth encompass us, as He saith,
‘Soul, be of good comfort;
for that is what I came to do for thee.’
- Mark Guy Pearse