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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Saturday, August 2, 2008
MORNING:
"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
-- Ephesians 1:11
Our belief in God's wisdom supposes and necessitates that he has a
settled purpose and plan in the work of salvation. What would creation
have been without his design? Is there a fish in the sea, or a fowl in
the air, which was left to chance for its formation? Nay, in every
bone, joint, and muscle, sinew, gland, and blood-vessel, you mark the
presence of a God working everything according to the design of
infinite wisdom. And shall God be present in creation, ruling over all,
and not in grace? Shall the new creation have the fickle genius of free
will to preside over it when divine counsel rules the old creation?
Look at Providence! Who knoweth not that not a sparrow falleth to the
ground without your Father? Even the hairs of your head are all
numbered. God weighs the mountains of our grief in scales, and the
hills of our tribulation in balances. And shall there be a God in
providence and not in grace? Shall the shell be ordained by wisdom and
the kernel be left to blind chance? No; he knows the end from the
beginning. He sees in its appointed place, not merely the corner-stone
which he has laid in fair colours, in the blood of his dear Son, but he
beholds in their ordained position each of the chosen stones taken out
of the quarry of nature, and polished by his grace; he sees the whole
from corner to cornice, from base to roof, from foundation to pinnacle.
He hath in his mind a clear knowledge of every stone which shall be
laid in its prepared space, and how vast the edifice shall be, and when
the top-stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of "Grace! Grace!
unto it." At the last it shall be clearly seen that in every chosen
vessel of mercy, Jehovah did as he willed with his own; and that in
every part of the work of grace he accomplished his purpose, and
glorified his own name.
EVENING:
"So she gleaned in the field until even."
-- Ruth 2:17
Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears
of corn, so must I go forth into the fields of prayer, meditation, the
ordinances, and hearing the word to gather spiritual food. The gleaner
gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: so must
I be content to search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty
of them. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson
assists in making us wise unto salvation. The gleaner keeps her eyes
open: if she stumbled among the stubble in a dream, she would have no
load to carry home rejoicingly at eventide. I must be watchful in
religious exercises lest they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have
lost much already-O that I may rightly estimate my opportunities, and
glean with greater diligence. The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and
so must I. High spirits criticize and object, but lowly minds glean and
receive benefit. A humble heart is a great help towards profitably
hearing the gospel. The engrafted soul-saving word is not received
except with meekness. A stiff back makes a bad gleaner; down, master
pride, thou art a vile robber, not to be endured for a moment. What the
gleaner gathers she holds: if she dropped one ear to find another, the
result of her day's work would be but scant; she is as careful to
retain as to obtain, and so at last her gains are great. How often do I
forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my
head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I
feel duly the importance of storing up the truth? A hungry belly makes
the gleaner wise; if there be no corn in her hand, there will be no
bread on her table; she labours under the sense of necessity, and hence
her tread is nimble and her grasp is firm; I have even a greater
necessity, Lord, help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to
glean in fields which yield so plenteous a reward to diligence.
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
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