Morning By Morning #19

I looked for him but did not find him.

Song of Songs 3:1

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Tell me exactly where you lost the fellowship of Christ and I will tell you the most likely place to rediscover Him. Did you lose Him in the closet, in what you considered to be unanswered prayer? Then your prayer closet is where you must seek Him. Did you lose fellowship with Christ through sin? Then the only way you will find Him is by giving up your sin and by seeking through the Holy Spirit to subdue any area of your life or body in which the lust for sin still abides. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? Then you must find Him in the Scriptures.

The saying “Look for something where you dropped it, for it is there” is also true here. So look for Christ where you left Him, for He has not gone away. Yet it is hard work to go back for Christ. John Bunyan (1628 – 1688) told us in The Pilgrim’s Progress that Pilgrim discovered that the most difficult path he had ever traveled was the road back to the Arbor of Ease where he had lost his roll. To travel twenty miles ahead is always easier than to be required to travel even one mile back for something lost. Therefore be very careful once you rediscover your Master to cling to Him.

Again, how is it you lost fellowship with Christ? One would have thought you would never have parted ways with such a precious Friend, one whose very presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose fellowship is so valued to you! How is it that you did not keep your eyes focused on Him every second, for fear of losing sight of Him?

Although you have let Him go, what a great mercy that you are now seeking Him even though you mournfully sigh, “If only I knew where to find Him!” Keep on seeking, for you know how dangerous it is to be without the fellowship of your Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd, like a tree without water for its roots, or like a dry and withered leaf in a hurricane. You feel separated from the sustenance of the Tree of Life.

Seek Him with your whole heart and you will find Him. Remember to surrender yourself completely to the search and you will ultimately, surely, find Him to still be your true joy and delight.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

A good example of Spurgeon’s thoughts today is what the Lord told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah during their Babylonian captivity. But remember, of course, their captivity was the direct result of their disobedience.

“ ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 29:11 – 14).

What a gracious God we have! He is always ready to welcome His wayward children back—but we must return in humility and repentance.

“Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken…and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD” (2 Kings 22:19).