Spurgeon: October AM
* 10/21/AM
"The love of Christ constraineth us."
--2 Corinthians 5:14
How much owest thou unto my Lord? Has He ever done anything
for thee? Has He forgiven thy sins? Has He covered thee with a
robe of righteousness? Has He set thy feet upon a rock? Has He
established thy goings? Has He prepared heaven for thee? Has He
prepared thee for heaven? Has He written thy name in His book of
life? Has He given thee countless blessings? Has He laid up for
thee a store of mercies, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard?
Then do something for Jesus worthy of His love. Give not a mere
wordy offering to a dying Redeemer. How will you feel when your
Master comes, if you have to confess that you did nothing for
Him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool, neither
flowing forth to His poor or to His work. Out on such love as
that! What do men think of a love which never shows itself in
action? Why, they say, "Open rebuke is better than secret
love." Who will accept a love so weak that it does not actuate
you to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of heroism,
or zeal! Think how He has loved you, and given Himself for
you! Do you know the power of that love? Then let it be like a
rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the clouds of your
worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin. "For Christ's
sake" be this the tongue of fire that shall sit upon you: "for
Christ's sake" be this the divine rapture, the heavenly afflatus
to bear you aloft from earth, the divine spirit that shall make
you bold as lions and swift as eagles in your Lord's service.
Love should give wings to the feet of service, and strength to
the arms of labour. Fixed on God with a constancy that is not
to be shaken, resolute to honour Him with a determination that
is not to be turned aside, and pressing on with an ardour never
to be wearied, let us manifest the constraints of love to Jesus.
May the divine loadstone draw us heavenward towards itself.