Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

April 1– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“It is time to seek the Lord.” 

—Hosea 10:12

This month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, meaning “to open.” This is because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the flowering gates of Spring. Dear reader, if you are yet unsaved, may you take advise from every blossoming flower you see; may it prompt your heart to bud and bloom with holy desires.

Does the warm blood of youth still rage in your veins? Then, I beg you, give your youthful strength to the Lord. It was my unspeakable happiness to be called by the Lord as a young person, and I can only praise him every day for it. Salvation is priceless no matter when it comes, but salvation early in life is of double value. Young man or woman, since you may die before you reach your prime, “It is time to seek the Lord.”

You who are feeling the first signs of decay, quicken your pace. That hollow cough, that hectic flush, are warnings which you should not dismiss too easily. With you it is indeed time to seek the Lord. Did I observe a little grey mingled with your once luxurious curls? Years are marching on and death is drawing nearer; so, let each coming of spring arouse you to set your house in order.

Dear reader, if you are now advanced in years, then let me beg you to delay no longer. Today is a day of grace; be thankful for it. But it is only a day, and the number of days are fading like the ticking of a clock. As you sit in quietness tonight, on this first night of another month, I speak to you from my inmost soul and lay before you this warning: “It is time to seek the Lord.” Don’t push it aside! It may be your last call from destruction, the final syllable from the lips of grace. [M&E]