Calendar . Volume 08 | Issue 15

Volume 08, Issue 15

A Minister’s Miscellany
Warren Wiersbe

“Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” (Andrew Bonar)

The godly Scottish preacher Andrew Bonar (1810-1892) was a close friend of Robert Murray M’Cheyne and wrote The Memoirs of M’Cheyne, a book every Christian ought to read. He wrote many hymns as well as commentaries on Leviticus and the Psalms. D. L. Moody brought him to his annual Northfield, MA, conference, especially to address the pastors.

When God gives us a victory, the experience ought to humble us and cause us to love and trust Him more; but too often we allow a victory to inflate our pride and create a false confidence that leads to a defeat. Like Samson, we say, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free” (Judges 16:20), only to discover that our strength is gone and we are captives. David had killed a lion and a bear, but he knew that he still had to trust God if he was going to kill the giant. It was after his victories at Jericho and Ai that Joshua was led astray by the Gibeonites (Joshua 9). Proverbs 16:18 is still in the Bible.