hat is in God's
handwriting and opens the gates of heaven. Far-seeing? Why, the man is in a
tiny cell, and he is going blind. 'Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord.'
That is the far-sighted man. He can see an ever larger life opening out
before him. He can see the glory of the eternal righteousness beneath his
daily duties and the wonder of eternal love in the daily fellowships and
fulfilments of the brotherhood. This is measuring life by the heavenly
measurement. This is the vision we need day by day and at the end of the
days. For interest in some things must wane, and life must become less
responsive to all that lies about it, and many an earthly link is broken
and many an earthly window is darkened, and the old faces and old ways
pass, and the thing the old man cherishes is trodden under foot by the
impetuous tread of a new generation, and desire fails. Then it is well with
him whose eyes have already caught glimpses of 'the King in His beauty,'
and 'the land that is very far off.'

But think for a moment of the present value of the divine outlook upon
life. It brings guidance and deliverance. Set side by side the two
expressions 'eyes unto the Lord,' and 'feet out of the net.' Life is more
than a vision; it is a pilgrimage. We see the far white peaks whereon rests
the glory of life, but reaching them is not a matter of eyes, but of feet.
Here, maybe, the real problem of godly living presents itself to us. Here
our Christian idealism lays a burden on us. It is possible to see distances
that would take days to traverse. Even so we can see heights of spiritual
possibility that we shall not reach while the light holds good unless we
foot it bravely. And it is not an easy journey. There are so many snares
set for the pilgrims of faith and hope. There are subtle silken nets woven
of soft-spun deceits and filmy threads of sin; and there are coarse strong
nets fashioned by the strong hands of passion and evil desire. There are
nets of doubt and pain and weakness. But think of the man whose eyes were
ever towards the Lord. He came through all right. He always does. He always
will. He looked steadily upward to his God. When we get into the net we
yield to the natural tendency to look down at our feet. We try to discover
how the net is made. We delude ourselves with the idea that if only we take
time we shall be able to extricate ourselves; but it always means getting
further entangled. It is a waste of time to study the net. Lif