Morning Devotional
"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst."
- John 4:14
He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now,
and to content him for evermore. The believer is not the man whose days
are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence of
heart-cheering thought, for he finds in religion such a spring of joy,
such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy. Put him in a
dungeon and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness,
he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, he will
meet the "friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Blast all his
gourds, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the
foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed,
trusting in the Lord. The heart is as insatiable as the grave till Jesus
enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing. There is such a
fulness in Christ that he alone is the believer's all. The true saint is
so completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts
no more-except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain. In that
sweet manner, believer, shalt thou thirst; it shall not be a thirst of
pain, but of loving desire; thou wilt find it a sweet thing to be panting
after a fuller enjoyment of Jesus' love. One in days of yore said, "I have
been sinking my bucket down into the well full often, but now my thirst
after Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself
to my lips, and drink right on.
" Is this the feeling of thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that
all thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now,
but to know more of him, and to have closer fellowship with him? Then come
continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life freely.
Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever welcome you,
saying, "Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
"
--------------------------------
Evening Devotional
"He had married an Ethiopian woman."
- Numbers 12:1
Strange choice of Moses, but how much more strange the choice of him who
is a prophet like unto Moses, and greater than he! Our Lord, who is fair
as the lily, has entered into marriage union with one who confesses
herself to be black, because the sun has looked upon her. It is the wonder
of angels that the love of Jesus should be set upon poor, lost, guilty
men. Each believer must, when filled with a sense of Jesus' love, be also
overwhelmed with astonishment that such love should be lavished on an
object so utterly unworthy of it. Knowing as we do our secret guiltiness,
unfaithfulness, and black-heartedness, we are dissolved in grateful
admiration of the matchless freeness and sovereignty of grace. Jesus must
have found the cause of his love in his own heart, he could not have found
it in us, for it is not there. Even since our conversion we have been
black, though grace has made us comely. Holy Rutherford said of himself
what we must each subscribe to-"His relation to me is, that I am sick, and
he is the Physician of whom I stand in need. Alas! how often I play fast
and loose with Christ! He bindeth, I loose; he buildeth, I cast down; I
quarrel with Christ, and he agreeth with me twenty times a day!" Most
tender and faithful Husband of our souls, pursue thy gracious work of
conforming us to thine image, till thou shalt present even us poor
Ethiopians unto thyself, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Moses met with opposition because of his marriage, and both himself and
his spouse were the subjects of an evil eye.
Can we wonder if this vain world opposes Jesus and his spouse, and
especially when great sinners are converted? for this is ever the
Pharisee's ground of objection, "This man receiveth sinners.
" Still is the old cause of quarrel revived, "Because he had married an
Ethiopian woman.
"
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