Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
February 4
Morning
"The love of the Lord."—Hosea
3:1.
Believer,
look back through all thine experience, and
think of the way whereby the Lord thy God has led thee in the wilderness, and
how He hath fed and clothed thee every day—how He hath borne with thine ill manners—how He hath put up with all thy
murmurings, and all thy longings after the flesh-pots of Egypt—how He has
opened the rock to supply thee, and fed thee with manna that came down from
heaven. Think of how His grace has been sufficient for thee in all thy troubles—how
His blood has been a pardon to thee in all thy sins—how His rod and His
staff have comforted thee. When thou hast thus looked back upon the love of the
Lord, then let faith survey His love in the future, for remember that
Christ's covenant and blood have something more in them than the past. He who has loved thee and pardoned thee, shall never cease
to love and pardon. He is Alpha, and He shall be Omega also: He is first, and
He shall be last. Therefore, bethink thee, when thou shalt pass through
the valley of the shadow of death, thou needest fear
no evil, for He is with thee. When thou shalt stand in the cold floods of
Jordan, thou needest not fear, for death cannot
separate thee from His love; and when thou shalt come into the mysteries of
eternity thou needest not tremble, "For I am
persuaded, that neither death; nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, soul, is not thy love refreshed? Does not
this make thee love Jesus? Doth not a flight through illimitable plains of the
ether of love inflame thy heart and compel thee to delight thyself in the Lord
thy God? Surely as we meditate on "the love of the Lord," our hearts
burn within us, and we long to love Him more.
Evening
"Your refuge from the avenger of blood."—Joshua
20:3.
It is said that in the land of Canaan, cities of refuge were so arranged,
that any man might reach one of them within half a day at the utmost. Even so
the word of our salvation is near to us; Jesus is a present Saviour,
and the way to Him is short; it is but a simple renunciation of our own merit,
and a laying hold of Jesus, to be our all in all. With regard to the roads to
the city of refuge, we are told that they were strictly preserved, every river
was bridged, and every obstruction removed, so that the man who fled might find
an easy passage to the city. Once a year the elders went along the roads and
saw to their order, so that nothing might impede the flight of any one, and
cause him, through delay, to be overtaken and slain. How graciously do the
promises of the gospel remove stumbling blocks from the way! Wherever there
were by-roads and turnings, there were fixed up hand-posts, with the
inscription upon them—"To the city of refuge!" This is a
picture of the road to Christ Jesus. It is no roundabout road of the law; it is
no obeying this, that, and the other; it is a straight road: "Believe, and
live." It is a road so hard, that no self-righteous man can ever tread it,
but so easy, that every sinner, who knows himself to be a sinner may by it find
his way to heaven. No sooner did the man-slayer reach
the outworks of the city than he was safe; it was not necessary for him to pass
far within the walls, but the suburbs themselves were sufficient protection.
Learn hence, that if you do but touch the hem of Christ's garment, you shall be
made whole; if you do but lay hold upon him with "faith as a grain of
mustard seed," you are safe.
"A little genuine grace ensures
The death of all our sins."
Only
waste no time, loiter not by the way, for the avenger of blood is swift of
foot; and it may be he is at your heels at this still hour of eventide.