Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: May 13th

Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. - 1 Timothy 6:8.

HAPPINESS does not depend upon external things, but upon the principle and disposition of the mind, and therefore its acquisition is as possible to us, in our present condition, as in any imaginable one. If we make our observations of those who have risen from poverty to affluence, shall we find that they have advanced in contentment as they have increased in wealth or honour? They have gained by their ascent greater and more awful responsibility-more arduous duty-more anxious solicitude -more exposedness to temptation. But what have they gained in solid satisfaction, or in mental tranquillity? How often have they thought of the “dangers that are past” with regret? What says Solomon, after a thousand trials?-“All is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

The things of earth were never designed to satisfy us. God never intended his people should find happiness in any thing short of himself. In vain, therefore, do we “seek the living among the dead.” In every such pursuit we resemble children ascending hill after hill to catch the sky, which rests on none of them; or a number of patients who, by a change of posture, are seeking relief which can only come from an inward cure. We too frequently blame our position for what is wrong in ourselves, and forget that the ground of our discontent is not our wants, but our wishes. There is scarcely any condition so low but may satisfy our wants, and there is none so high as to satisfy our desires. If we live according to the laws of nature, reason, and religion, we shall never be poor; if we live according to those of fancy and opinion, we shall never be rich.

Let us, therefore, cultivate happiness within, not seeking it in a superior station, but in a contented mind, reducing our wishes rather than enlarging our means; making the most of present enjoyment and of actual possession, in distinction from future and imaginary. Let us learn with the apostle “both how to be abased, and how to abound,” in all our affairs confiding in the providence of our heavenly Father, as concerned in fixing the bounds of our habitation, and as engaged in making “all things work together for our good.” We should ever remember that “this is not our rest;” that we are only strangers and pilgrims upon earth; and that in a very little time it will be a matter of indifference to us whether we have been poor or rich, splendid or obscure.

A well-grounded hope of heaven will reconcile us to any privations we maybe called to bear upon earth; and, should we even walk in the midst of trouble, this will revive us, and we shall be enabled to say, “I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

They shall all know me. - Jeremiah 31:34.

KNOWLEDGE is the prerogative and the distinction of humanity. “For there is a Spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding.” The principal object of this knowledge must be God himself, whether we consider the perfections of his nature, or the various relations in which he stands to his creatures. Indeed we know nothing as we ought to know, unless we know him. This knowledge is evangelical. It is not knowing him as the almighty and eternal God, who made all things; “who upholdeth all things by the word of his power;” “who is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” This knowledge will not answer the purpose of a poor perishing sinner. Yea, it may operate upon his depravity to produce distance, dread, and dislike.

“We are saved by hope;” and our restoration cannot be accomplished till we are enabled by his grace to hope in him, and to see that with the Lord there is forgiveness, and with him is plenteous redemption. God in nature is God above us; God in providence is God beyond us; God in law is God against us: but God in Christ is God for us, and God with us, and God in us. We must know him, therefore, in the person of his dear Son; for “God, who commandeth the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This knowledge is experimental.

There is a great diiference between knowing a thing only in theory and knowing it in experience, by the confidence of the heart, the bias of the will, and the ardour of the affections. It is expressed by tasting-“O taste and see that the Lord is good.” This is very different from the mere reading, speaking, and talking about it. The knowledge of some professors of religion never descends lower than the head. But in the new covenant God says, “I will give them a heart to know me;” and this knowledge is ever accompanied with three things. With confidence-“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee;” with affection-“He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love;” and with obedience-“He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

This knowledge is therefore practical; indeed knowledge is always to be viewed in the order of means; and when it does not reach the end, the sacred writers consider it no better than ignorance; and indeed it is not. This knowledge is also appropriating; and there are some who can say with the Psalmist, “This God is our God for ever and ever, and he will be our guide even unto death.” And oh! what a happy experience to be able to exclaim-

“When I can say this God is mine,

When I can feel his glory shine,

I’ll tread the world beneath my feet,

And all that earth calls good or great.”

And where this appropriation is not actually experienced! it is always really desired; and the desire is an evidence of a work of grace begun in the heart. The Christian therefore prays with David, “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation;” and “blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”