Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

 March 23– Evening

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

“I tell you that, if these people were to remain silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” 

—Luke 19:40

Is it possible for stones to cry out? Surely they could if the one who opens the mouth of those who are unable to speak commands them to lift up their voice. And, if the stones were able to speak, they would testify of the one who created them by the word of his power. They could extol the wisdom and power of their Maker who called them into being.

Will we not speak well of the One who made us anew and out of stones raised up children of Abraham? Old rocks could testify of how God turned chaos into order in the successive stages of creation’s drama. Are we unable to tell of God’s decrees, of God’s great work in ancient times, of all he did for his church in the days of old? If stones were to speak, they could tell of how they were taken from the quarry and made to fit into the temple. Are we unable to speak of how our stone hearts were broken by the Almighty breaker who used the hammer of his word to make us fit into the building of his temple? Will we not magnify our Builder who then polished us and made us fit members of God’s House? If stones could cry out, they might have a long story to tell. And how many stones could be put in place to memorialize God’s great works?

Yes, we must be living stones— testifying pillars of remembrance of how God has worked in our own lives. The broken stones of the law cry out against us, but Christ himself, who has rolled away the stone from the tomb, speaks for us. Stones might well cry out, but we will not let them; our noise will drown out theirs. We will break forth into sacred song and bless the majesty of the Most High. All of our days, we will glorify him who is called by Jacob the Shepherd and Stone of Israel. [M&E]