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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008
MORNING:
"I will be their God."
-- Jeremiah 31:33
Christian! here is all thou canst require. To make thee happy thou
wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? If
thou canst pour this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with
David, "My cup runneth over; I have more than heart can wish"? When
this is fulfilled, "I am thy God", art thou not possessor of all
things? Desire is insatiable as death, but he who filleth all in all
can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? but the
immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. I ask thee if
thou art not complete when God is thine? Dost thou want anything but
God? Is not his all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else
should fail? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou
desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in
this thy portion, for God is the Maker of Heaven. Not all the music
blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield
such melody as this sweet promise, "I will be their God." Here is a
deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit
in it; swim an age, and thou shalt find no shore; dive throughout
eternity, and thou shalt find no bottom. "I will be their God." If this
do not make thine eyes sparkle, and thy heart beat high with bliss,
then assuredly thy soul is not in a healthy state. But thou wantest
more than present delights-thou cravest something concerning which thou
mayest exercise hope; and what more canst thou hope for than the
fulfilment of this great promise, "I will be their God"? This is the
masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below,
and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light of thy Lord, and let
thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow and
fatness which this portion yields thee. Live up to thy privileges, and
rejoice with unspeakable joy.
EVENING:
"Serve the Lord with gladness."
-- Psalms 100:2
Delight in divine service is a token of acceptance. Those who serve God
with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasant to them, are
not serving him at all; they bring the form of homage, but the life is
absent. Our God requires no slaves to grace his throne; he is the Lord
of the empire of love, and would have his servants dressed in the
livery of joy. The angels of God serve him with songs, not with groans;
a murmur or a sigh would be a mutiny in their ranks. That obedience
which is not voluntary is disobedience, for the Lord looketh at the
heart, and if he seeth that we serve him from force, and not because we
love him, he will reject our offering. Service coupled with
cheerfulness is heart-service, and therefore true. Take away joyful
willingness from the Christian, and you have removed the test of his
sincerity. If a man be driven to battle, he is no patriot; but he who
marches into the fray with flashing eye and beaming face, singing, "It
is sweet for one's country to die," proves himself to be sincere in his
patriotism. Cheerfulness is the support of our strength; in the joy of
the Lord are we strong. It acts as the remover of difficulties. It is
to our service what oil is to the wheels of a railway carriage. Without
oil the axle soon grows hot, and accidents occur; and if there be not a
holy cheerfulness to oil our wheels, our spirits will be clogged with
weariness. The man who is cheerful in his service of God, proves that
obedience is his element; he can sing,
"Make me to walk in thy commands,
'Tis a delightful road."
Reader, let us put this question-do you serve the Lord with gladness?
Let us show to the people of the world, who think our religion to be
slavery, that it is to us a delight and a joy! Let our gladness
proclaim that we serve a good Master.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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