Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
by C. H. Spurgeon
Friday Morning, December 30
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
Look at David's Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father's right hand, expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. As he is, so are we also in this world. You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Be content to be like him, a worm and no man, that like him you may be satisfied when you wake up in his likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much--much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the day when I make up my jewels. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.
Evening, December 30
Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?
2 Samuel 2:26
If, O my reader! thou art merely a professor, and not a possessor of the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the following lines are a true ketch of thine end.
You are a respectable attendant at a place of worship; you go because others go, not because your heart is right with God. This is your beginning. I will suppose that for the next twenty or thirty years you will be spared to go on as you do now, professing religion by an outward attendance upon the means of grace, but having no heart in the matter. Tread softly, for I must show you the deathbed of such a one as yourself. Let us gaze upon him gently. A clammy sweat is on his brow, and he wakes up crying, O God, it is hard to die. Did you send for my minister? Yes, he is coming. The minister comes. Sir, I fear that I am dying! Have you any hope? I cannot say that I have. I fear to stand before my God; oh! pray for me. The prayer is offered for him with sincere earnestness, and the way of salvation is for the ten-thousandth time put before him, but before he has grasped the rope, I see him sink. I may put my finger upon those cold eyelids, for they will never see anything here again. But where is the man, and where are the man's true eyes? It is written, In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. Ah! why did he not lift up his eyes before? Because he was so accustomed to hear the gospel that his soul slept under it. Alas! if you should lift up your eyes there, how bitter will be your wailings. Let the Saviour's own words reveal the woe: Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. There is a frightful meaning in those words. May you never have to spell it out by the red light of Jehovah's wrath!
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Love - More!
You can never love too much. You can dote too much, cuddle too much, stare at a picture too much, and even fix more cookies than are acceptable, but you cannot love too much.
Paul emphasized this to believers in Thessalonica:
Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more . . . . (4:9-10)
"Excel still more." If there is anything that we should be excellent about, it is love. Paul made love practical when he wrote this memorable list in 1 Corinthians 13:
Love is patient, love is kind.
Love is not jealous.
Love does not brag, and is not arrogant.
Love does not act unbecomingly or seek its own.
Love is not provoked.
Love does not take into account a wrong suffered.
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Paul is saying: you do some of that, but you can do a lot more of it. So excel still more!
Storyteller C. Roy Angell once illustrated the beauty of such self-abandoning love. Here are his own words except for a slight modification or two:
A college friend named Paul got an automobile as a present from his brother before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Paul found a street urchin walking around his shiny new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car, mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."
The boy looked astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish . . . ." Paul knew what he was going to wish. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But instead, the boy said, "I wish I could be a brother like that."
Paul was so impressed he offered the kid a ride in his car. The boy asked if they could drive in front of his house. Paul thought he wanted to show his neighbors his "sweet ride." But he was wrong again. They stopped in front of the boy's house, and he ran inside. He came out carrying his little polio-crippled brother. The older boy sat him down on the bottom step and squeezed up against him, pointing to the car. "There it is. His brother gave it to him for Christmas, and it didn't cost him a cent. Someday I'm going to give you one just like it, so you can see for yourself all the things in the Christmas windows I've been telling you about."
Paul lifted the little boy into the front seat of his car. The older brother got in next to him, his eyes shining, and the three of them took a trip to see the Christmas windows. Paul learned that night what Jesus meant when he said, "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving."
What would life be like if there were more of this kind of love? What would happen to others? What would be the difference in you? You can understand why the apostle Paul never tired of saying, "Keep on loving; do it even more!"
Permission granted for reproduction in exact form. All other uses require written permission.
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