Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
February 11
Morning
"And
they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."—Acts 4:13.
A Christian should be a
striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully
and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is His living biography,
written out in the words and actions of His people. If we were what we profess
to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such
striking likenesses of Him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the
hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;" but
they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus; he
has been taught of Him; he is like Him; he has caught the very idea of the holy
Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every-day actions." A
Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. Never blush to own your
religion; your profession will never disgrace you: take care you never disgrace
that. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God. Imitate Him in your loving
spirit; think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you,
"He has been with Jesus." Imitate Jesus in His holiness. Was
He zealous for His Master? So be you; ever go about doing good.
Let not time be wasted: it is too precious. Was He self-denying, never looking
to His own interest? Be the same. Was He devout? Be you fervent in your
prayers. Had He deference to His Father's will? So submit yourselves to Him.
Was He patient? So learn to endure. And best of all, as the highest portraiture
of Jesus, try to forgive your enemies, as He did; and let those sublime words
of your Master, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they
do," always ring in your ears. Forgive, as you hope to be forgiven. Heap coals of fire on the head of your foe by your kindness to him.
Good for evil, recollect, is godlike. Be godlike,
then; and in all ways and by all means, so live that all may say of you,
"He has been with Jesus."
Evening
"Thou
hast left thy first love."—Revelation 2:4.
Ever to be remembered is
that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden,
received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way
in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter
was past; the mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as
reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment.
Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, and patience sprung
from the sod; the hyacinth of repentance, the snowdrop of pure holiness, the
crocus of golden faith, the daffodil of early love, all decked the garden of
the soul. The time of the singing of birds was come, and we rejoiced with
thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and our resolve
was, "Lord, I am Thine, wholly Thine; all I am, and all I have, I would devote to Thee.
Thou hast brought me with Thy blood—let me spend myself and be spent in
Thy service. In life and in death let me be consecrated to Thee." How
have we kept this resolve? Our espousal love burned with a holy flame of devoutedness to Jesus—is it the same now?
Might not Jesus well say to us, "I have somewhat against thee, because
thou hast left they first love"? Alas! it is but
little we have done for our Master's glory. Our winter has lasted all too long.
We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer's glow and bloom with sacred
flowers. We give to God pence when He deserveth
pounds, nay, deserveth our heart's blood to be coined
in the service of His church and of His truth. But shall we continue thus? O
Lord, after Thou hast so richly blessed us, shall we be ungrateful and become
indifferent to Thy good cause and work? O quicken us
that we may return to our first love, and do our first works! Send us a genial
spring, O Sun of Righteousness.