Morning  “Come unto me.” / Matthew 11:28

The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, “Come.” The Jewish law

harshly said, “Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt

walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt

live.” The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with

a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd

going before his sheep, bidding them follow him, and ever leading them onwards

with the sweet word, “Come.” The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law

shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that

awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.

From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory,

the language of Christ to you will be, “Come, come unto me.” As a mother puts

out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, “Come,” even

so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow him as the

soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way,

and clear your path, and you shall hear his animating voice calling you after

him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with

which he shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be–“Come, ye blessed

of my Father.”

Nay, further, this is not only Christ’s cry to you, but, if you be a believer,

this is your cry to Christ–“Come! come!” You will be longing for his second

advent; you will be saying, “Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus.” You will

be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is

“Come,” your response to him will be, “Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come,

and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and

consecrate me entirely to thy service.”

 

Evening  “Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine

ear was not opened.” / Isaiah 48:8

It is painful to remember that, in a certain degree, this accusation may be

laid at the door of believers, who too often are in a measure spiritually

insensible. We may well bewail ourselves that we do not hear the voice of God

as we ought, “Yea, thou heardest not.” There are gentle motions of the Holy

Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us: there are whisperings of divine

command and of heavenly love which are alike unobserved by our leaden

intellects. Alas! we have been carelessly ignorant–“Yea, thou knewest not.”

There are matters within which we ought to have seen, corruptions which have

made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being blighted like flowers

in the frost, untended by us; glimpses of the divine face which might be

perceived if we did not wall up the windows of our soul. But we “have not

known.” As we think of it we are humbled in the deepest self-abasement. How

must we adore the grace of God as we learn from the context that all this

folly and ignorance, on our part, was foreknown by God, and, notwithstanding

that foreknowledge, he yet has been pleased to deal with us in a way of mercy!

Admire the marvellous sovereign grace which could have chosen us in the sight

of all this! Wonder at the price that was paid for us when Christ knew what we

should be! He who hung upon the cross foresaw us as unbelieving, backsliding,

cold of heart, indifferent, careless, lax in prayer, and yet he said, “I am

the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour … Since thou wast

precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:

therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life!” O redemption,

how wondrously resplendent dost thou shine when we think how black we are! O

Holy Spirit, give us henceforth the hearing ear, the understanding heart!