Morning “For me to live is Christ.” / Philippians 1:21
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the
Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the
dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new
and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers
the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we
have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his
glory we would live, and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the
pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our
character. Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim
and end of his life was Christ–nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words
of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was
his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his
life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea?
Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business–are you
doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family
advantage? Do you ask, “Is that a mean reason?” For the Christian it is. He
professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without
committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle
in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for
Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a
Christian–its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up
in one word–Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to
live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between
the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be,
“Ready for either.”
Evening “My sister, my spouse.” / Song of Solomon 4:12
Observe the sweet titles with which the heavenly Solomon with intense
affection addresses his bride the church. “My sister, one near to me by ties
of nature, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse, nearest and dearest,
united to me by the tenderest bands of love; my sweet companion, part of my
own self. My sister, by my Incarnation, which makes me bone of thy bone and
flesh of thy flesh; my spouse, by heavenly betrothal, in which I have espoused
thee unto myself in righteousness. My sister, whom I knew of old, and over
whom I watched from her earliest infancy; my spouse, taken from among the
daughters, embraced by arms of love, and affianced unto me forever. See how
true it is that our royal Kinsman is not ashamed of us, for he dwells with
manifest delight upon this two-fold relationship. We have the word “my” twice
in our version; as if Christ dwelt with rapture on his possession of his
Church. “His delights were with the sons of men,” because those sons of men
were his own chosen ones. He, the Shepherd, sought the sheep, because they
were his sheep; he has gone about “to seek and to save that which was lost,”
because that which was lost was his long before it was lost to itself or lost
to him. The church is the exclusive portion of her Lord; none else may claim a
partnership, or pretend to share her love. Jesus, thy church delights to have
it so! Let every believing soul drink solace out of these wells. Soul! Christ
is near to thee in ties of relationship; Christ is dear to thee in bonds of
marriage union, and thou art dear to him; behold he grasps both of thy hands
with both his own, saying, “My sister, my spouse.” Mark the two sacred
holdfasts by which thy Lord gets such a double hold of thee that he neither
can nor will ever let thee go. Be not, O beloved, slow to return the hallowed
flame of his love.
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 