We have much to learn from J. C. Ryle about matters related to personal holiness and what properly styles a Christian. This excerpt is taken from his devotional classic, "Holiness."
Needs of the Times
"Men who had understanding of the times'' (l Chronicles
12:32)
These words were written about the tribe of Issachar, in the days when David first began to reign over Israel. It seems that after Saul's unhappy death, some of the tribes of Israel were undecided what to do. “Under which king?” was the question of the day in Palestine. Men doubted whether they should cling to the family of Saul, or accept David as their king. Some hung back, and would not commit themselves; others came forward boldly, and declared for David. Among these last were many of the children of Issachar; and the Holy Spirit gives them a special word of praise. He says, “They were men who had understanding of the times.”
I cannot doubt that this sentence, like every sentence in Scripture, was written for our learning. These men of Issachar are set before us as a pattern to be imitated, and an example to be followed; for it is a most important thing to understand the times in which we live, and to know what those times require. The wise men in the court of Ahasuerus knew the times (Est. 1:13). Our Lord Jesus Christ blames the Jews, because they “knew not the time of their visitation” (Luke 19:44) and did not “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3). Let us take heed lest we fall into the same sin. The man who is content to sit ignorantly by his own fireside, wrapped up in his own private affairs, and has no public eye for what is going on in the church and the world is a miserable citizen, and a poor style of Christian. Next to our Bibles and our own hearts, our Lord would have us study our own times.
