Daily Devotionals

Bowen's Daily Meditations

Devotional: March 17th

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him." - Isaiah 3:10.

Fear not, thou righteous man, thou lover of righteousness, who hast taken Christ as thy righteousness, and whose sincere desire is to walk even as he also walked, who hath made the Lord thy refuge, and hath put thy trust in the shadow of his wings, fear not; we bring thee a message from God; it shall be well with thee.

Thy sins alarm thee. They say; " We have possessed thee all thy days, and thy heart is our home. Thou hast always served us, and every day of habit has bound thee by a new chain to us. Of late thou hast been making fearful struggles; hast busied thyself day and night with God’s word; thrown thyself into the society of the good; repented of sin; aspired to heaven; and have even exercised faith in Christ. Yet here we are where we always were; swaying thee as of old; mocking thy new and frantic endeavors. We are a part of thy life; is it not evident? And the attempt to escape from us is as though thy arms should attempt to tear themselves from thy body. None can deliver thee from the body of this death."

Thy sins shall not have dominion over thee; it shall be well with thee. Thy present experience is good for thee. It is good for thee to know the extent of thy captivity, that thou mayest know how great a deliverance is required; and to know the true character of thy captors, that thou mayest love him who setteth thee free. It is because Christ is at the door that there is this agitation and conflict within. It shall be well with thee.

Unbelief says, " It might be well with thee, if thou hadst a stronger faith. But what can Christ do for one that has scarce any faith, and dares not grasp the promises? No, it can never be well with thee." We reply, It shall be well with thee. The mightiest faith has an insignificant beginning. Thy faith shall grow; it grows while we speak. Take this word God sends thee, and be strong in faith.

Timidity says, " Who knows what fierce antagonists may start up along this narrow path? Though thou triumph over the present evil, yet the future things may prove too much for thee." Who maketh thee to triumph over the present evil? And is he not a match for the future evil? The future difficulties shall only afford new occasions for the display of his faithfulness and all-sufficiency.

The world says, " It shall not be well with thee. We have traced the course of thousands who gave themselves up to the pursuit of righteousness. They fared not well, but ill. They were cut oft by their ideas of duty from all our joys; and during all the journey of life they where haunted by a sense of unfulfilled obligation, were vexed by an inward conflict, and racked by fears of the future; and all men were against them; gloom, gloom, gloom, was the sum of their experience." But here the righteous man answers for himself, and says, " This representation is false; it is because a life of piety hath no attractions for thee that thou dost so describe it. Thy boasted joys are but blooming poisons, banquets spread by an enemy. It is not well with thee, but with him that leaveth thee." Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him!

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