Morning and Evening

Charles H. Spurgeon

June 24, 2010

Morning Reading

A certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him,
Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of
God, and keep it.--Luke 11:27, 28

It is fondly imagined by some that it must have involved very special
privileges to have been the mother of our Lord, because they supposed
that she had the benefit of looking into His very heart in a way in
which we cannot hope to do. There may be an appearance of plausibility
in the supposition, but not much. We do not know that Mary knew more
than others; what she did know she did well to lay up in her heart; but
she does not appear from anything we read in the Evangelists to have
been a better-instructed believer than any other of Christ's disciples.
All that she knew we also may discover. Do you wonder that we should
say so? Here is a text to prove it: "The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." Remember the
Master's words--"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all
things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." So
blessedly does this Divine Revealer of secrets tell us His heart, that
He keepeth back nothing which is profitable to us; His own assurance
is, "If it were not so, I would have told you." Doth He not this day
manifest Himself unto us as He doth not unto the world? It is even so;
and therefore we will not ignorantly cry out, "Blessed is the womb that
bare thee," but we will intelligently bless God that, having heard the
Word and kept it, we have first of all as true a communion with the
Saviour as the Virgin had, and in the second place as true an
acquaintance with the secrets of His heart as she can be supposed to
have obtained. Happy soul to be thus privileged!

Evening Reading

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said . . . Be it known
unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.--Daniel 3:16, 18

The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance of the
three holy children, or rather champions, is well calculated to excite
in the minds of believers firmness and steadfastness in upholding the
truth in the teeth of tyranny and in the very jaws of death. Let young
Christians especially learn from their example, both in matters of
faith in religion, and matters of uprightness in business, never to
sacrifice their consciences. Lose all rather than lose your integrity,
and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the
rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not guided by
the will-o'-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star of divine
authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you see no present
advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honour to trust
Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See
whether He will be your debtor! See if He doth not even in this life
prove His word that "Godliness, with contentment, is great gain," and
that they who "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
shall have all these things added unto them." Should it happen that, in
the providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find
that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly prosperity,
He will discharge His promise in the gold of spiritual joy. Remember
that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of that which he
possesseth. To wear a guileless spirit, to have a heart void of
offence, to have the favour and smile of God, is greater riches than
the mines of Ophir could yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win.
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and
inward contention therewith." An ounce of heart's-ease is worth a ton
of gold.