The Ivy's Grip: Cleaving to What Is Good

Romans 12:9 commands us to "cleave to that which is good"—a phrase Bishop Beveridge illuminated through nature's own sermon. Consider the ivy clinging to wall and tree: it extends innumerable tendrils, each seeking adhesion, each striving to become one with its support. Only by main force can the two be torn asunder. This is the quality of devotion Paul demands.

Yet Beveridge's insight deepens further. To cleave to that which is good requires cleaving first to Him who is good—Elohim the Holy, the Just One. Archbishop Trench identifies Christ as the sole condition of such attachment.

Why pursue this relentless grip? The rewards multiply across eternity. Your conscience becomes void of offence before Yahweh (Acts 24:16). Your heart rejoices in His love (Philippians 4:4). You gain honour to your faith, Adonai's favour toward yourself, assurance of your interest in Christ, the concurrence of all things to your good, and eternal happiness itself (Matthew 25:46).

This is no passive affection but active, muscular devotion—the soul's tendrils reaching, grasping, fastening themselves to Goodness itself. The Christian does not merely admire virtue; he becomes one with it through relentless, ivy-like persistence until separation becomes impossible.