My One Melchizidek

"I thank Thee, O Father, that Thou hast ever planted Thy first rose 'ere the Canaanite has been expelled. I thank Thee that Thou hast sown the wheat before Thou hast plucked up the tares. I thank Thee that Thou has sent the primrose into my early year. There are Melchizideks in the heart while the heart is only a "land of the Canaanites." My aspirations come sooner than my deeds. Long before I am good I have longings after goodness. Thou acceptest me for these longings, O my God; Thou waitest not for the full corn, Thou tarriest not for the autumn ripeness. Thou comest to the one opening bud in my heart - the one Melchizidek in my Canaan. Thou comest to my first rose - my primrose. Thou callest my life a garden, while it is yet a wilderness. I am justified by faith, by mere aspiration, before I have done a single good work. The Canaanites are all within me still; the old habits are there, the old temptations are there. But there is a single Melchizidek among them - the wish of my heart for better things. Thou has accepted that solitary flower and called it righteousness. Thou hast beheld my one star and called it Bethlehem. Thou hast seen my one thread of gold and called it Christ. Thou hast heard the faint beating of my heart and called it Calvary. Thou has received Melchizidek in spite of his environment - in the dark and in the cold Thou has received him, in the midst of the Canaanites Thou hast received him."

~George Matheson