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March 1 |
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Morning Reading |
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Evening
Reading |
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"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;
blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." |
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Song of Solomon 4:16 |
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Anything is better than the dead calm of
indifference. Our souls may wisely desire the north wind of trouble if that
alone can be sanctified to the drawing forth of the perfume of our graces.
So long as it cannot be said,
"The Lord was not in the wind," we will not
shrink from the most wintry blast that ever blew upon plants of grace. Did
not the spouse in this verse humbly submit herself to the reproofs of her
Beloved; only entreating him to send forth his grace in some form, and
making no stipulation as to the peculiar manner in which it should come? Did
she not, like ourselves, become so utterly weary of deadness and unholy calm
that she sighed for any visitation which would brace her to action? Yet she
desires the warm south wind of comfort, too, the smiles of divine love, the
joy of the Redeemer's presence; these are often mightily effectual to arouse
our sluggish life. She desires either one or the other, or both; so that she
may but be able to delight her Beloved with the spices of her garden. She
cannot endure to be unprofitable, nor can we. How cheering a thought that
Jesus can find comfort in our poor feeble graces. Can it be? It seems far
too good to be true. Well may we court trial or even death itself if we
shall thereby be aided to make glad Immanuel's heart. O that our heart were
crushed to atoms if only by such bruising our sweet Lord Jesus could be
glorified. Graces unexercised are as sweet perfumes slumbering in the cups
of the flowers: the wisdom of the great Husbandman overrules diverse and
opposite causes to produce the one desired result, and makes both affliction
and consolation draw forth the grateful odours of faith, love, patience,
hope, resignation, joy, and the other fair flowers of the garden. May we
know by sweet experience, what this means. |
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Evening Reading |
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"He is precious." |
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1 Peter 2:7 |
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As all the rivers run into the sea, so all
delights centre in our Beloved. The glances of his eyes outshine the sun:
the beauties of his face are fairer than the choicest flowers: no fragrance
is like the breath of his mouth. Gems of the mine, and pearls from the sea,
are worthless things when measured by his preciousness. Peter tells us that
Jesus is precious, but he did not and could not tell us how precious,
nor could any of us compute the value of God's unspeakable gift. Words
cannot set forth the preciousness of the Lord Jesus to his people, nor fully
tell how essential he is to their satisfaction and happiness. Believer, have
you not found in the midst of plenty a sore famine if your Lord has been
absent? The sun was shining, but Christ had hidden himself, and all the
world was black to you; or it was night, and since the bright and morning
star was gone, no other star could yield you so much as a ray of light. What
a howling wilderness is this world without our Lord! If once he hideth
himself from us, withered are the flowers of our garden; our pleasant fruits
decay; the birds suspend their songs, and a tempest overturns our hopes. All
earth's candles cannot make daylight if the Sun of Righteousness be
eclipsed. He is the soul of our soul, the light of our light, the life of
our life. Dear reader, what wouldst thou do in the world without him, when
thou wakest up and lookest forward to the day's battle? What wouldst thou do
at night, when thou comest home jaded and weary, if there were no door of
fellowship between thee and Christ? Blessed be his name, he will not suffer
us to try our lot without him, for Jesus never forsakes his own. Yet, let
the thought of what life would be without him enhance his
preciousness. |
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