Morning
“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.
Evening
“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.
- Charles Spurgeon's Meditations for May 30th
~Brittany
