the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
March 22—Morning—Jeremiah 2:2
"Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown."—Jeremiah 2:2.
Pause, my soul, over this condescending token of God’s love to Israel; and see whether it doth not hold forth to thee a blessed portion for thy encouragement. Israel had been most undeserving; but yet the Lord would put Israel in remembrance, by assuring his people that he remembered their love when God first formed Israel into a people. When he led them into the wilderness, and married Israel, they sung the praise of Jehovah in their love-songs, on the day of their espousals. ’Now,’ saith the Lord, - ’I remember thee in these things; for these were tokens of affection when thou wentest after me in following the pillar of cloud through the desert; in trusting to a harvest, though as yet the land was not sown.’ And may I, blessed Lord, sweetly interpret this precious portion with application to myself, as though my God so spake to me of the day of my espousals? Doth my God and Saviour remember me in the first awakenings of his grace, when, at the first mention of his name, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadab? Well, then, may my soul remember thee, Oh thou God of my salvation! The savour of thy past love and past experiences gives now, at this moment, new delight to my soul, and awakens new desires of communion with my God. The very recollection of what I then was, and how thou calledst me, and made my time a time of love; and how thou passedst by, and didst bid me live, and didst cleanse me, and take me home, and betrothedst me to thyself, and made me thine for ever; the very thoughts refresh my soul now; and these former experiences drive away present distresses and despondency. How is it, my soul, with thee now? Art thou less in frame - less in love? Hast thou not the same earnest liking to Jesus now, as then? Is the strength of thy love, and desires, and delights, abated? Look at this blessed scripture. Hear what God saith to Israel, in a time of Israel’s coldness. See how God’s love was not changed, though Israel’s was so abated. Art thou, my soul, conscious of the same? Art thou lamenting it; desiring, waiting for some renewed token of thy Jesus’s love? Is his name, his person, his righteousness still precious? Dost thou wait but for the whispers of his grace? See, here it is - I remember, though thou hast forgotten the day of thine espousals. Oh the wonderful condescension of the Son of God! Behold, my soul, how, in this very way, he is preparing thine heart for the renewings of his love, and his sweet manifestations towards thee. Oh cry out with the church of old, under similar circumstances, "Draw me; we will run after thee." Unless thou drawest, Lord, the distance will remain; but the desire of being drawn, shews the earnestness for union. Lord, I beseech thee, do this; bring me near to thyself, to thine everlasting embraces; then shall I run, nay, even flee to my beloved, and will hang upon thee as the vessel hangeth on the nail, and dwell, and remain with thee for ever.
March 22—Evening—Luke 15:2
"This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." Luke 15:2.
My soul! wouldest thou, by faith, review some more than ordinary representation of the Lord Jesus, to melt the finer feelings of thy heart, in the contemplation of his unequalled condescension and love? Let this be it, which the evangelist hath here drawn of the Son of God. Behold him, encircled with poor publicans and sinners, alluring them to the arms of his mercy; and behold the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes withdrawing from the sacred spot, and with all that indignation and scorn, which marked their character, murmuring at the grace of Jesus, saying, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them!" Well is it for thee, my soul, that the Son of God hath received sinners; else how should I have been looked upon by him? And well is it that his table hath been spread for sinners; or how should I have been fed by him? Yea, Lord, is it not the very feature of thy rich dispensation of mercy, that it is for sinners, as sinners, that thou didst come down from heaven, to seek and save them? And who but sinners, should Jesus, the great Saviour of sinners receive, and eat with? Will the Lord allow me, this evening, to dwell upon the sweet subject, and run over some of the blessed thoughts, which arise out of this view of my compassionate and all-loving Lord? Why then, I would say to my soul, remember, when thy Jesus first received thee as a sinner, thou wert hastening on to ruin; and it was then, of all moments the most alarming, when thou didst merit hell, that Jesus received thee, and promised thee heaven. And do not forget how truly seasonable was the mercy; for thou wast then living without hope, without God, and without Christ in the world, when Jesus brought thee nigh by the blood of his cross. And never, surely, was mercy more unexpected, less sought for, or less esteemed, than when Jesus surprised thee with the manifestations of his grace, and made thee willing in the day of his power. Precious Redeemer! the Pharisee’s reproach shall be my joy; and what they spoke of my Lord in contempt, shall henceforth be the chief note in my evening song to his praise: - ’This man, this God-man, receiveth sinners and eateth with them, for he hath received me, the chief of sinners, and eaten with me.’ Lord Jesus! ever receive me, the poorest, the most unworthy of all the objects of thy grace. Come in, Lord, to my poor house, to my heart, and bring me to thine house and to thy table; and there let it be noticed, and known to every beholder, while my soul is feasting itself in the rich enjoyment, that "Jesus receiveth sinners, and eateth with them."
