Instead of Lodging the Lion and
the Leopard and the Wolf by Alexander Smiley from The Secret Place
1907 With authority he commands even
the unclean spirits and they obey him. Mark chapter 1 verse
27. No word of the gospel sounds
more gladsomely in my ears than this. For the unclean spirits
have invaded the citadel of my soul and asserted their hateful
domination over me. I have no strength to drive them
out. But, my Lord, You can rescue
me from their hideous craft and polluting bondage. Every deadly
sin may be defeated by the virtue of Your cross and the omnipotence
of Your Spirit. There is what Dante calls the
hungry lion of pride. In my pride, I claim a false
superiority. I exalt myself arrogantly and
unreasonably. I am never satisfied. I am never
content with the honor I receive. Always I am clamoring for more
and more and more. Lord Jesus Christ, subdue this
demon of pride. Then there is what Dante calls
the spotted leopard of sensuality. It is not simply in my hot youth
that I give harbourage to corrupting imaginations which sink me beneath
my true dignity. They are horribly persistent. They follow me into my riper
age. Again and again they reappear.
A story in the newspaper makes them recur, or a too suggestive
picture, or an impure word, which I overhear as I hurry along the
street. Wrestle, O Christ, with the spotted
leopard in me, and kill him outright. Forsake me not, until my hidden
thoughts are as sinless as your own. And there is what Danty
calls the famished wolf of covetousness. I crave money—crave it with a
hunger which refuses to be appeased. If I have managed to secure a
little gain, and am of some account in the social sphere, I am full
of eagerness to add to my store. If I am poor, I am discontented,
and forever scheming and toiling for more money. Lord Jesus, when
you were here, you had nothing of the world's riches, and yet
your heart lacked for no good thing. Without wallet or purse,
you were crowned with the love of the Father and the fullness
of the Spirit. Teach me your secret, and let
the wolf of covetousness be slain too. You are all I want. Come to me and dwell patiently
and victoriously within me until I am holy as you are holy. Then, instead of lodging the
lion and the leopard and the wolf and many another unclean
and loathsome beast, I shall be conformed to the lamb and
the dove.