he hardy fisherfolk, and
hard-handed laboring-men came as eagerly to him. He drew the pure, fine
grained, gentle Mary of Bethany, with her unusual keenness of spirit
insight; and drew as well the unnamed outcast woman, steeped in sin, who
was forgiven much, and who loved much, and so gave much.

Practical hard-headed men of sharp bargains and shrewd trading, like
Matthew, felt His pull upon their hearts equally with men of pure heart
and lofty ideals like Nathanael. By special effort, for a special purpose
He drew high-bred, high-strung, scholarly, intense Paul, out of his mad
enmity into a lifelong devotion.

The crowds came until His daily routine and ministering help were
repeatedly and seriously interrupted. And strong men sought Him alone to
lay bare the longings and questionings of their hearts. His Roman judge
felt the strange winsomeness of His presence and speech, though lacking in
the courage to follow his convictions regarding Him. And the Roman officer
in charge of His execution was forced to admit the power of His presence.

All the world gathered about His cross. Representatives from all parts, in
large numbers, were at the Jerusalem feast; and on that morning, by common
consent, they were drawn out to the place where He hung.

He even drew the arch-tempter. He came with his subtlest temptations, and
bitterest enmity, and most malignant cunning. Could there be greater
evidence, by contrast, of the drawing power of His purity and goodness and
steadfast devotion to His mission?

<u>Jesus Draws Out the Best.</u>

And Jesus had the power to draw out of men the best there was in them.
Possibilities, traits, and powers that neither they nor their friends
supposed they had came out into strong life under the spell of His touch.
There seemed to be something in Him that drew the same sort of thing out
of them.

Out of Simon, the hot-headed, impulsive fisherman, He drew the steady man
of rock. Out of fiery John, the son of thunder, He drew the man of tender,
strong love. And out of quiet, retiring Andrew He drew a man with a
reputation for bringing others to Jesus.

He drew out of the Sychar outcast a sense of her sin, and then a winner of
souls; and out of that other woman of open sin, a longing for purity that
paved the way to all else that came. Under His compelling touch there came
out of the blind-born man a willingness to sacrifice all for such a
Master; and out of James, the other son of thunder