An excerpt from yesterday’s morning entry in Morning and Evening. Again, Spurgeon proves to be an expert marksman of the heart…
….how frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;” but Christ does not pray like that, he leaves us in his Father’s hands, until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into our Master’s garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be kept from evil, but he never asks for us to be admitted to the inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, “Because we would be with the Lord.” We fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure of trial.
They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour’s company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to glorify God by your life here as long as he pleases, even though it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave him to say when “it is enough.”
Bullseye, yikes.
May 3, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Thanks for sharing. Yikes for me too.
May 3, 2011 at 3:13 pm
I totally agree. As a corollary, a helpful question to ask ourselves in times of joy and blessing is – “How does the doctrine of imminence affect our hearts – the fact that the return of Christ can happen at any moment? Does it cause us to rejoice (because we truly treasure Christ Himself) or cause sadness and even fear (because we actually treasure this world and want to extend our lives to enjoy God’s gifts instead of Him)?
Thanks for the good reminder to continually examine our hearts and motivations.
May 4, 2011 at 10:36 am
Hmmm….that was painful
But awesome!
May 4, 2011 at 2:28 pm
yikes