Wednesday Morning, May 30
"Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines."
Song of Solomon 2:15
A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without his company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with him to the hunting.
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Evening, May 30
"That henceforth we should not serve sin."
Romans 6:6
Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler—be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again! It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought should restrain thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time you "serve sin" you have "Crucified the Lord afresh, and put him to an open shame." Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition this evening, to bring you back before you have backslidden very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew; he has not forgotten his love to thee; his grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into his heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established.
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A Father's Spiritual Advice
On his 20th birthday, I gave my son a copy of the letter I had written him when he was just one year old. The challenges I set out for him at age one are unchanged 19 years later. I've excerpted portions of that "spiritual yardstick" below, along with one final lesson that's now become obvious.
You are now a year old, and words can't describe the joy you have brought us. Your birth was an answer to years of prayer, and we know that you will grow to be God's man. Toward that end, let me summarize some of the most important lessons I've learned about living.
1. Give top priority to knowing God. Spend much time in His word-read, study, memorize, and meditate-and in prayer to Him. Know Christ, and make Him known.
2. Use your time wisely. As it slips away, so does your life. Invest time in building relationships with others, and take time to write down what's important to you.
3. Give more attention to what you are rather than what you do. First be pure and holy, and proper actions will follow. Learn to endure hardships with joy, for they will come to an end, and you will have grown. Everything has its season.
4. Don't be deceived by the glamour of this world, whether it comes in the form of positions, possessions, or pleasures. Temptations and tribulations are a necessary part of life, but God has promised to provide a way of escape. He is faithful; you be faithful, too. Stand on the side of right, even if you must stand alone.
5. The important is seldom urgent, and the urgent is seldom important. Therefore, make your important decisions slowly; some can't be reversed. The joy in life is in the living, not in attaining some distant goal. Make plans, but leave room for God to change them.
6. Nothing is as simple as it looks, and problems are seldom as bad as they first appear. Don't be naïve, fearful or easily shaken.
7. Give credit for what you are to God and others, and cultivate love and gratefulness toward them.
I hope these thoughts will challenge you in the years to come.
We want the best for our children and naturally set such lofty goals for them. Thus to these lessons I'd like to add another: The "spiritual yardsticks" we use on others seem to work better when we first apply them to ourselves. Perhaps that's the reason I'm ashamed to find I haven't "measured up" as well as I had hoped.
Permission granted for reproduction in exact form. All other uses require written permission.
Find more free articles at www.BulletinInserts.org, a ministry of Christian Communicators Worldwide: www.CCWtoday.org
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