the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Mornings and Evenings with Jesus
If ye then he risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. - Colossians 3:1.
AS if the apostle should say, You will, by seeking those things which are above, evince that you are risen with Christ. And if you are Christians indeed, you will act becoming your condition and rank. Surely it is very desirable to be fully assured that we are thus risen with Christ. While many are seeking those things which are earthly, and which perish with their using, let us be concerned to say, “Show me a token for good.” “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” There are many who are building their hopes on a sandy foundation, trusting to partial reformations. Alas! how possible it is to be near the kingdom of God, and not in it!
There is no evidence of our being raised to this spiritual condition which can be depended upon separate from heavenly-mindedness, or from setting our affections on things above. For as we have borne the “image of the earthly,” we must also “bear the image of the heavenly,” or we cannot with safety indulge in a “hope of the glory of God.” Then, if we are seeking “those things which are above,” our practice must accord with our professions.
Hence there are such frequent exhortations in the Scriptures to “walk worthy of God, who has called us unto his kingdom and glory.” “Walk worthy of the high vocation wherewith ye are called.” Walking, here, is not meritorious, but implies suitableness and correspondence. Alexander, the conqueror of the world, said to a soldier who bore his name, “Either drop my name, or act becoming it.” So says the Apostle Paul: -“Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
How many are there who entirely disregard the things which are above! They are like Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright; or, like the Gadarenes, rather than lose their swine, would expel Christ from their coasts. Like Reuben and Gad, they are satisfied with their portion this side Jordan. But what a portion will it prove eventually! for “What shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” But, blessed be God, there some who have weighed both worlds, and who prefer the “things above” to the things on the earth; who are able to say,-
“Farewell, world; thy gold is dross:
Now I see the bloody cross;
Jesus died to set me free
From the law, and sin, and thee.”
Such declare plainly that they “seek a better country,” and show that “truly their fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption. - Isaiah 38:17.
THE writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick. Observe, First, His perilous situation. It was the “pit of corruption,” that means the grave; he was on the verge of the eternal world. We see how unimportant the distinctions of the world are. He was a great king, and very successful, but a disorder arrests him and lays him low. One day he is on the throne, another on the bed of languishing. No human greatness can secure a man from the ordinary infirmities of nature or the common calamities of life.
Observe, Secondly, His restoration from this perilous state. He was delivered, that is, recovered. He speaks of it as a privilege. “Life is yours,” saith the Apostle Paul; and it is an inestimable blessing, and capable of infinite improvement. With regard to the Christian’s personal enjoyment, he may say, “It is better to depart and be with Christ,” but to abide in the flesh may be more useful to others. It is, indeed, the only season of usefulness. This is the only opportunity Christians have of serving their generation, and of glorifying their Saviour.
Thirdly, Observe also the Author of his deliverance. It is the Lord’s doing. He bringeth down to the grave, and he raiseth up. Hezekiah was recovered by the application of prescribed and proper means; but this only shows God’s order in working. God chooses to use means in his agency, and therefore we must use means too. But whatever means we employ we must rely for their success entirely upon him; for “without him we can do nothing.”
Observe, Lastly, That he received this deliverance as springing from the divine favour. “Thou hast in love to my soul” done it. Our temporal mercies never have so sweet a relish as when we taste the love of God in them. God sometimes denies his people in love. When through ignorance they implore things which would be injurious to them, his kindness leads him to refuse their desires. So he sometimes grants in wrath. The Israelites, discontented with the manna, desired flesh. God gave them their heart’s desire, but sent leanness into their souls.
