Spurgeon: May PM
* 05/17/PM
"Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee."
--Isaiah 41:9
If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its
practical effect has been to make us God's servants . We may be
unfaithful servants, we certainly are unprofitable ones, but
yet, blessed be His name, we are His servants, wearing His
livery, feeding at His table, and obeying His commands. We were
once the servants of sin, but He who made us free has now taken
us into His family and taught us obedience to His will. We do
not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we
hear God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art My servant," we can
answer with David, "I am thy servant; Thou hast loosed my
bonds." But the Lord calls us not only His servants , but His
chosen ones--"I have chosen thee." We have not chosen Him
first, but He hath chosen us. If we be God's servants, we were
not always so; to sovereign grace the change must be ascribed.
The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of
unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an
everlasting love." Long ere time began or space was created God
had written upon His heart the names of His elect people, had
predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of His Son,
and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of His love, His
grace, and His glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved
us so long, and will He yet cast us away? He knew how
stiffnecked we should be, He understood that our hearts were
evil, and yet He made the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle
lover. He doth not feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams
of beauty from His church's eye, and then afterwards cast her
off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, He married her in old
eternity; and it is written of Jehovah, "He hateth putting
away." The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and
upon His faithfulness which neither can disown.