Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
March 15
MORNING
ÒBe strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus.Ó — 2 Timothy 2:1
Christ has grace without measure in Himself, but He
hath not retained it for Himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the
pipes, so hath Christ emptied out His grace for His people.
ÒOf His fulness have all we received, and grace for
grace.Ó He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like the
fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty
pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it.
Like a tree, He bears sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs, but to be gathered by
those who need. Grace, whether its work be to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve,
to strengthen, to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from
Him freely and without price; nor is there one form of the work of grace which
He has not bestowed upon His people. As the blood of the body, though flowing
from the heart, belongs equally to every member, so
the influences of grace are the inheritance of every saint united to the Lamb;
and herein there is a sweet communion between Christ and His Church, inasmuch
as they both receive the same grace. Christ is the head upon which the oil is
first poured; but the same oil runs to the very skirts of the garments, so that
the meanest saint has an unction of the same costly
moisture as that which fell upon the head. This is true communion when the sap
of grace flows from the stem to the branch, and when it is perceived that the
stem itself is sustained by the very nourishment which
feeds the branch. As we day by day receive grace from Jesus, and more
constantly recognize it as coming from Him, we shall behold Him in communion
with us, and enjoy the felicity of communion with Him. Let us make daily use of
our riches, and ever repair to Him as to our own Lord in covenant, taking from
Him the supply of all we need with as much boldness as men take money from
their own purse.
EVENING
ÒHe did it with all his heart and prospered.Ó —
2 Chronicles 31:21
This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule
of the moral universe that those men prosper who do their work with all their
hearts, while those are almost certain to fail who go
to their labour leaving half their hearts behind
them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor
is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its
hid treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must
be diligent in business. It is the same in religion as it is in other things.
If you would prosper in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it
be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and
earnestness into religion as ever you do into business, for it deserves far
more. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, but He does not encourage our
idleness; He loves active believers. Who are the most useful men in the
Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God
with all their hearts. Who are the most successful Sabbath-school
teachers? The most talented? No; the most zealous; the
men whose hearts are on fire, those are the men who see their Lord riding forth
prosperously in the majesty of His salvation. Whole-heartedness shows itself in
perseverance; there may be failure at first, but the earnest worker will say,
ÒIt is the LordÕs work, and it must be done; my Lord has bidden me do it, and
in His strength I will accomplish it.Ó Christian, art thou thus Òwith all thine heartÓ serving thy Master? Remember the earnestness
of Jesus! Think what heart-work was His! He could say, ÒThe zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up.Ó
When He sweat great drops of blood, it was no light
burden He had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; and when He poured out His
heart, it was no weak effort He was making for the salvation of His people. Was
Jesus in earnest, and are we lukewarm?