Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

January 18– Morning

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

“There remains a rest for the people of God.” 

—Hebrews 4:9

 

How different will be the believer’s condition in heaven as compared with what it is here! Here he is born to work and become weary, but in the land of the immortal fatigue is never known. Although he wants to serve his Master here, he finds his strength unequal to his zeal. His constant cry is, “Help me to serve you, O my God. I am not tired of the work, but I grow weary in the work.”

But the hot day of weariness doesn’t last forever. The sun is nearing the horizon, and it will rise again on a brighter day in a land where the inhabitants serve God day and night and yet, at the same time, rest from their labors. Here rest is partial, but there it is perfect. Here the Christian always has more to do. But there everyone is at rest; they have reached the summit of the mountain; they have embraced their God; they can’t go any higher!

O, tired worker, think of when you’ll be able to rest forever! Can you fathom it? Here my best joys are mortal. The most beautiful flowers fade. The vats of the best wine are eventually drained to their dregs. The sweetest birds fall from the sky. But there everything is immortal; the harp never rusts; the crown remains untarnished, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering. The immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. What a great day that will be when mortality is swallowed up by life and the Eternal Sabbath begins! [M&E]