Weekday Devotions October 18th

Faith’s Check Book

By Charles H. Spurgeon

 TEARS, THEN JOYFUL HARVEST

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" Psalms 126:5

Weeping times are suitable for sowing: we do not want the ground to be too dry. Seed steeped in the tears of earnest anxiety will come up all the sooner. The salt of prayerful tears will give the good seed a flavor which will preserve it from the worm: truth spoken in awful earnestness has a double life about it. Instead of stopping our sowing because of our weeping, let us redouble our efforts because the season is so propitious.

Our heavenly seed could not fitly be sown laughing. Deep sorrow and concern for the souls of others are a far more fit accompaniment of godly teaching than anything like levity. We have heard of men who went to war with a light heart, but they were beaten; and it is mostly so with those who sow in the same style.

Come, then, my heart, sow on in thy weeping, for thou hast the promise of a joyful harvest. Thou shalt reap. Thou, thyself, shalt see some result of thy labor. This shall come to thee in so large a measure as to give thee joy, which a poor, withered, and scanty harvest would not do. When thine eyes are dim with silver tears, think of the golden corn. Bear cheerfully the present toil and disappointment; for the harvest day will fully recompense thee.

Thought’s for the Quiet Hour

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler

Psalms 91:3

He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. That is, from the little things, the hidden traps and nets that are set for us. Great sins frighten where little snares entangle. It is easier to escape the huntsman’s arrow than the crafty lure.

And where are they not set? Riches and poverty, sickness and strength, prosperity and adversity, friendship and loneliness, the work and the want of it—each has its snare, wherein not only are the unwary caught, but the wise and the watchful sometimes fall a prey. Little things, mere threads, hardly worth guarding against—yet they are strong enough to hold us and hinder us, and may be the beginning of our destruction.

Mark Guy Pearse