Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
January 1
Morning
"They
did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."—Joshua 5:12.
IsraelŐs weary wanderings
were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery
serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old
corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy
case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be
in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the
people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a
double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which
still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we
have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us
banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the
prospect that this year we shall begin to be "for ever
with the Lord."
A part of the host will
this year tarry on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to
our lot, there is no reason why the New Year's text should not still be true. "We who have believed do enter into
rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; He gives us
"glory begun below." In heaven they are secure, and so are we
preserve in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have
victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is
not denied to us; they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him: they
hymn His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too. We will this year
gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the
desert like the garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels' food of old, and why
not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land
of Canaan this year!
Evening
"We will
be glad and rejoice in Thee."—Song of Solomon 1:4.
We will be glad and rejoice
in Thee. We will not open the gates of the year to the dolorous notes of the
sackbut, but to the sweet strains of the harp of joy, and the high sounding
cymbals of gladness. "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a
joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation." We, the called and faithful
and chosen, we will drive away our griefs, and set up
our banners of confidence in the name of God. Let others lament over their
troubles, we who have the sweetening tree to cast into Marah's
bitter pool, with joy will magnify the Lord. Eternal Spirit, our effectual
Comforter, we who are the temples in which Thou dwellest,
will never cease from adoring and blessing the name of Jesus. We WILL,
we are resolved about it, Jesus must have the crown of our heart's delight; we
will not dishonour our Bridegroom by mourning in His
presence. We are ordained to be the minstrels of the skies, let us rehearse our
everlasting anthem before we sing it in the halls of the New Jerusalem. We
will BE GLAD AND REJOICE: two words with one sense, double joy, blessedness upon blessedness. Need there be any limit to our
rejoicing in the Lord even now? Do not men of grace find their Lord to be camphire and spikenard, calamus
and cinnamon even now, and what better fragrance have
they in heaven itself? We will be glad and rejoice IN THEE. That last
word is the meat in the dish, the kernel of the nut, the
soul of the text. What heavens are laid up in Jesus! What rivers of infinite
bliss have their source, ay, and every drop of their fulness
in Him! Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favour us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness,
that from its first to its last day we may be glad and rejoice in Thee. Let
January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus.