Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
January 31
Morning
"The
Lord our Righteousness."—Jeremiah 23:6.
It will always give a
Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness
of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do not think
they ought to be. I do not think they would if they could always see their
perfection in Christ. There are some who are always talking about corruption,
and the depravity of the heart, and the innate evil of the soul. This is quite
true, but why not go a little further, and remember that we are "perfect
in Christ Jesus." It is no wonder that those who are dwelling upon their
own corruption should wear such downcast looks; but surely if we call to mind
that "Christ is made unto us righteousness," we shall be of good
cheer. What though distresses afflict me, though Satan assault me, though there
may be many things to be experienced before I get to heaven, those are done for
me in the covenant of divine grace; there is nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ
hath done it all. On the cross He said, "It is finished!" and if it
be finished, then am I complete in Him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is
of God by faith." You will not find on this side heaven a holier people
than those who receive into their hearts the doctrine of Christ's
righteousness. When the believer says, "I live on Christ alone; I rest on
Him solely for salvation; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am still
saved in Jesus;" then there rises up as a motive of gratitude this
thought—"Shall I not live to Christ? Shall I not love Him and serve
Him, seeing that I am saved by His merits?" "The love of Christ constraineth us," "that they which live should
not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them." If
saved by imputed righteousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness.
Evening
"Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi."—2 Samuel 18:23.
Running is not everything,
there is much in the way which we select: a swift foot
over hill and down dale will not keep pace with a slower traveller upon level
ground. How is it with my spiritual journey, am I labouring
up the hill of my own works and down into the ravines of my own humiliations
and resolutions, or do I run by the plain way of "Believe and live"?
How blessed is it to wait upon the Lord by faith! The soul runs without
weariness, and walks without fainting, in the way of believing. Christ Jesus is
the way of life, and He is a plain way, a pleasant way, a way suitable for the
tottering feet and feeble knees of trembling sinners: am I found in this way,
or am I hunting after another track such as priestcraft
or metaphysics may promise me? I read of the way of holiness, that the
wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein: have I been delivered from
proud reason and been brought as a little child to rest in Jesus' love and
blood? If so, by God's grace I shall outrun the strongest runner who chooses
any other path. This truth I may remember to my profit in my daily cares and
needs. It will be my wisest course to go at once to my God, and not to wander
in a roundabout manner to this friend and that. He knows my wants and can
relieve them, to whom should I repair but to Himself by the direct appeal of
prayer, and the plain argument of the promise. "Straightforward makes the
best runner." I will not parlay with the servants, but hasten to their
master.
In reading this passage, it
strikes me that if men vie with each other in common matters, and one outruns
the other, I ought to be in solemn earnestness so to run that I may obtain.
Lord, help me to gird up the loins of my mind, and may I press forward towards
the mark for the prize of my high calling of God in Christ Jesus.