November 24 - Morning"The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams." — Isaiah 33:21
Broad rivers and streams produce fertility, and abundance in the land.
Places near broad rivers are remarkable for the variety of their plants and
their plentiful harvests. God is all this to His Church. Having God she has
abundance. What can she ask for that He will not give her? What want can
she mention which He will not supply? "In this mountain shall the Lord of
Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things." Want ye the bread of
life? It drops like manna from the sky. Want ye refreshing streams? The
rock follows you, and that Rock is Christ. If you suffer any want it is
your own fault; if you are straitened you are not straitened in Him, but in
your own bowels.
Broad rivers and streams also point to commerce. Our
glorious Lord is to us a place of heavenly merchandize. Through our
Redeemer we have commerce with the past; the wealth of Calvary, the
treasures of the covenant, the riches of the ancient days of election, the
stores of eternity, all come to us down the broad stream of our gracious
Lord. We have commerce, too, with the future. What galleys, laden to the
water's edge, come to us from the millennium! What visions we have of
the days of heaven upon earth!
Through our glorious Lord we have
commerce with angels; communion with the bright spirits washed in blood,
who sing before the throne; nay, better still, we have fellowship with the
Infinite One. Broad rivers and streams are specially intended to set forth
the idea of security. Rivers were of old a defence. Oh! beloved, what a
defence is God to His Church! The devil cannot cross this broad river of
God. How he wishes he could turn the current, but fear not, for God
abideth immutably the same. Satan may worry, but he cannot destroy us;
no galley with oars shall invade our river, neither shall gallant ship pass
thereby. November 24 - Evening"Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." — Proverbs 24:33, 34
The worst of sluggards only ask for a little slumber; they would be
indignant if they were accused of thorough idleness. A little folding of the
hands to sleep is all they crave, and they have a crowd of reasons to show
that this indulgence is a very proper one. Yet by these littles the day ebbs
out, and the time for labour is all gone, and the field is grown over with
thorns. It is by little procrastinations that men ruin their souls. They have
no intention to delay for years — a few months will bring the more
convenient season — to-morrow if you will, they will attend to serious
things; but the present hour is so occupied and altogether so unsuitable,
that they beg to be excused.
Like sands from an hour-glass, time passes,
life is wasted by driblets, and seasons of grace lost by little slumbers. Oh,
to be wise, to catch the flying hour, to use the moments on the wing! May
the Lord teach us this sacred wisdom, for otherwise a poverty of the worst
sort awaits us, eternal poverty which shall want even a drop of water, and
beg for it in vain. Like a traveller steadily pursuing his journey, poverty
overtakes the slothful, and ruin overthrows the undecided: each hour brings
the dreaded pursuer nearer; he pauses not by the way, for he is on his
master's business and must not tarry.
As an armed man enters with
authority and power, so shall want come to the idle, and death to the
impenitent, and there will be no escape. O that men were wise be-times,
and would seek diligently unto the Lord Jesus, or ere the solemn day shall
dawn when it will be too late to plough and to sow, too late to repent and
believe. In harvest, it is vain to lament that the seed time was neglected. As
yet, faith and holy decision are timely. May we obtain them this night. November 24 |