Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

October 2– Morning

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

“The hope that is laid up for you in heaven.” 

—Colossians 1:5

Our hope in Christ for the future is the main source of our joy here. It will energize our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there.

Here we are weary and tired, but over there is the land of rest where the workman’s sweat will no longer drip from his brow and fatigue will be forever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the word “rest” is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within and so molested by outside enemies that we have little or no peace. But in heaven we will enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved in victory and the sword put back into its sheath. We’ll hear our Captain say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

We have suffered sorrow after sorrow, but we’re going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for nothing defiled will enter into that kingdom. Hemlock doesn’t grow in heavenly fields. Oh, what a joy! You won’t be in banishment forever! You won’t dwell eternally in this wilderness, but will soon inherit Canaan.

Nevertheless, let it never be said of us that we are dreaming about the future and forgetting the present. In fact, let the future cause us to use the present for its highest use. Through the Spirit of God, the hope of heaven is the most potent force for the producing of virtue; it’s a fountain of joyous effort; it’s the cornerstone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigor, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against temptation with zeal, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labor without reward here and now because he looks for a reward in the world to come. [M&E]