Morning, December 30 Go To Evening Reading
“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”
—Ecclesiastes 7:8
Look at David’s Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you know the end? He sits at his Father’s right hand, expecting his enemies to be made his footstool. “As he is, so are we also in this world.” You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end. That caterpillar is yourself until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death, but when Christ appears, you shall be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Be content to be like him, a worm and no man, that like him you may be satisfied when you wake up in his likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much—much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch’s head with trumpet’s joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God’s people, and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. “They shall be mine,” saith the Lord, “in the day I make up my jewels.” “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
Go To Morning Reading Evening, December 30
“Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?”
—2 Samuel 2:26
If, O my reader! Thou art merely a professor and not a possessor of the faith in Christ Jesus; the following lines are a true ketch of the end.
You are a respectable attendant at a place of worship; you go because others go, not because your heart is right with God. This is your beginning. I will suppose that for the next twenty or thirty years, you will be spared to go on as you do now, professing religion by an outward attendance upon the means of grace but having no heart in the matter. Tread softly, for I must show you the deathbed of someone like yourself. Let us gaze upon him gently. A clammy sweat is on his brow, and he wakes up crying, “O God, it is hard to die. Did you send for my minister?”
“Yes, he is coming.” The minister comes. “Sir, I fear that I am dying!” “Have you any hope?” “I cannot say that I have. I fear to stand before my God; oh! pray for me.” The prayer is offered for him with sincere earnestness, and the way of salvation is for the ten-thousandth time put before him, but before he has grasped the rope, I see him sink. I may put my finger upon those cold eyelids, for they will never see anything here again. But where is the man, and where are the man’s actual eyes? It is written, “In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.” Ah! Why did he not lift up his eyes before? Because he was so accustomed to hearing the gospel that his soul slept under it. Alas! If you should lift up your eyes there, how bitter will be your wailings. Let the Saviour’s words reveal the woe: “Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” There is a frightful meaning in those words. May you never have to spell it out by the red light of Jehovah’s wrath!
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
December 30: The Proverbs 31 Woman
Lamentations 3:1–66; Romans 15:22–33; Proverbs 31:1–19
A Proverbs 31 woman is hard to find, but it isn’t for lack of effort. She’s been the topic of more than a few Bible studies. She can be recognized for her many positive traits—strong, courageous, and trustworthy. She is hardworking, discerning, giving, dignified, business savvy, wise, and kind. If we’re looking for a vice or an Achilles heel, we’ll have to turn to another passage in the ot (we’re sure to find more failures than achievers within its pages).
As we look through the list of qualities, it’s hard to check them all off, even for Type-A personalities. But the key to understanding the list of characteristics isn’t found in what we can attain. It’s located in the last verse—the crux of the poem. The crown of the woman’s wisdom isn’t her charm, beauty, or even her ability to “get things done.” It is her fear of Yahweh. This relationship with God guides all of her actions.
If we’re trying to earn favor with God by being “the best version of myself” or “being the best me,” we’ll fail miserably. If we live to define ourselves by a task, or even a role, we’ll fall short every time. God’s work in us—through Christ—represents us.
As redeemed people, we can strive to be wise and discerning thanks to the work of the Spirit. We can strive to be stewards of the time He’s given us. We can strive to live unselfishly in all of our relationships. When we fail or fall short, we can trust that it’s not on our own merit that we find favor with Him. His popularity extends from His enduring faithfulness to us.
How do you rest in the “fear of the Lord”? How do all of your actions proceed from your relationship with Him?
Rebecca Van Noord
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.
December 30th
“And every virtue we possess.”
All my fresh springs shall be in Thee. Psalm 87:7 (P.B.V.).
Our Lord never patches up our natural virtues; he remakes the whole man on the inside. “Put on the new man”—see that your wild human life puts on the garb keeping with the new life. The life God plants in us develops its own virtues, not the virtues of Adam but of Jesus Christ. Watch how God will wither up your confidence in natural virtues after sanctification and in any power you have until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through a drying-up experience!
The sign that God is at work in us is that He corrupts confidence in the natural virtues because they are not promises of what we will be but remnants of what God created man to be. We will cling to the natural virtues while all the time, God is trying to get us into contact with the life of Jesus Christ, which can never be described in terms of the natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people in the service of God depending on the grace God never gave them, depending on what they have by the accident of heredity. God does not build up our natural virtues and transfigure them because our natural virtues can never come near what Jesus Christ wants. No genuine love, patience, or purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every bit of our bodily life into harmony with the new life God has put in us, He will exhibit the virtues that are characteristic of the Lord Jesus.
‘And every virtue we possess
Is His alone.’
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
December 30
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord
Gen. 6:8
Noah found grace in the same way that Paul obtained mercy (1 Tim. 1:16), namely, by mercy’s taking hold of him.
Selected
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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