Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
October 6
Morning
"Whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst."—John 4:14.
He who is a believer in
Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content him for
evermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort,
and whose nights are long from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds
in religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is
content and happy. Put him in a dungeon and he will find good company; place
him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away
from friendship, he will meet the "friend that sticketh
closer than a brother." Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow
beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his
heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as insatiable as
the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing. There
is such a fulness in Christ that He alone is the
believer's all. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the
all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more—except it be for deeper
draughts of the living fountain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt thou
thirst; it shall not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; thou wilt find
it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller enjoyment of Jesus' love. One in
days of yore said, "I have been sinking my bucket down into the well full
often, but now my thirst after Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to
put the well itself to my lips, and drink right on." Is this the feeling
of thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that all
thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to know
more of Him;, and to have closer fellowship with Him?
Then come continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life freely.
Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying,
"Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved."
Evening
"He had
married an Ethiopian woman."—Numbers 12:1.
Strange choice of Moses,
but how much more strange the choice of Him who is a prophet like unto Moses,
and greater than he! Our Lord, who is fair as the lily, has entered into
marriage union with one who confesses herself to be
black, because the sun has looked upon her. It is the wonder of angels that the
love of Jesus should be set upon poor, lost, guilty men. Each believer must,
when filled with a sense of Jesus' love, be also overwhelmed with astonishment
that such love should be lavished on an object so utterly unworthy of it.
Knowing as we do our secret guiltiness, unfaithfulness, and black-heartedness,
we are dissolved in grateful admiration of the matchless freeness and
sovereignty of grace. Jesus must have found the cause of His love in His own heart, He could not have found it in us, for it is not
there. Even since our conversion we have been black, though grace has made us
comely. Holy Rutherford said of himself what we must each subscribe
to—"His relation to me is, that I am sick, and He is the Physician
of whom I stand in need. Alas! how often I play fast
and loose with Christ! He bindeth, I loose; He buildeth, I cast down; I quarrel with Christ, and He agreeth with me twenty times a day!" Most tender and
faithful Husband of our souls, pursue Thy gracious work of conforming us to Thine image, till Thou shalt present even us poor Ethiops unto Thyself, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing. Moses met with opposition because of his marriage, and both himself and
his spouse were the subjects of an evil eye. Can we wonder if this vain world
opposes Jesus and His spouse, and especially when great sinners are converted? for this is ever the Pharisee's ground of objection,
"This man receiveth sinners." Still is the
old cause of quarrel revived, "Because he had married an Ethiopian woman."