Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

July 11– Morning

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

“After you have suffered for a while, he will make you perfect; he will establish, strengthen, and settle you.” 

—1 Peter 5:10

No doubt you have seen the arch of the rainbow as it spans the sky. Its colors are glorious, and its hues are rare. It is beautiful, but eventually it fades away, and is gone. Simply put, it is not “established.”

The graces of the Christian’s character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, they must be established and settled. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be a lasting thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand but an inscription upon the rock! May your convictions be deep, your love real, and your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established that all the blasts of hell and all the storms of earth will never be able to remove you.

How can one become established like this in the Faith? The apostle tells us that is comes “after you have suffered for a while.” What’s the point of hoping to be well-rooted if no rough winds ever blow over you? After all, it is the old gnarling on the root of the tree that tells of the many storms it has endured.

In the same way, the Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life. Don’t shrink back from the storms of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction in your life. ! [M&E]