Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
June 13
Morning
"Whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely."—Revelation 22:17.
Jesus says, "take freely." He wants no payment or preparation. He
seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good
feelings, if you be but willing, you are invited; therefore come! You have no
belief and no repentance,—come to Him, and He
will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take "Freely,"
without money and without price. He gives Himself to needy ones. The drinking
fountains at the corners of our streets are valuable institutions; and we can
hardly imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his purse, when he stands
before one of them, and to cry, "I cannot drink because I have not five
pounds in my pocket." However poor the man is, there is the fountain, and
just as he is he may drink of it. Thirsty passengers, as they go by, whether
they are dressed in fustian or in broadcloth, do not look for any warrant for
drinking; its being there is their warrant for taking its water freely. The liberality
of some good friends has put the refreshing crystal there and we take it, and
ask no questions. Perhaps the only persons who need go
thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain, are the fine
ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages. They are very thirsty, but
cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them,
they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with
parched lips. Oh, how many there are who are rich in their own good works and
cannot therefore come to Christ! "I will not be saved," they say,
"in the same way as the harlot or the swearer." What! go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep. Is there no
pathway to glory but the path which led the thief
there? I will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without
the living water; but, "WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE
THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY."
Evening
"Remove far from me vanity
and lies."—Proverbs 30:8.
O my God,
be not far from me." Psalm 38:21. Here we have
two great lessons—what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest
state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to
the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys
comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity—he finds no satisfaction unless
his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness
elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their
pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to
enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to
him, for she said, "I fear that this is the only world in which he will be
happy, and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in
it." Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the
insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are
dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked
up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down.
Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his
God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of
his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in
holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a
Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his
God, becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to
feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes
stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master's service,
but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley
of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon
to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!