He is precious

I don’t often read devotional books (and almost never on a daily basis), but one I adore is Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon (no surprise there). Much is made about Spurgeon’s preaching prowess, his prodigious output, and the size of his congregation. But what I love about Spurgeon, and, arguably, this is something that isn’t talked about enough, is how tangible his love of Jesus is in his preaching and writing.

I was reminded of this when I recently read an entry in Morning and Evening, where he wrote:

Words cannot set forth the preciousness of the Lord Jesus to his people, nor fully tell how essential he is to their satisfaction and happiness. Believer, have you not found in the midst of plenty a sore famine if your Lord has been absent? The sun was shining, but Christ had hidden himself, and all the world was black to you; or it was night, and since the bright and morning star was gone, no other star could yield you so much as a ray of light. What a howling wilderness is this world without our Lord! If once he hideth himself from us, withered are the flowers of our garden; our pleasant fruits decay; the birds suspend their songs, and a tempest overturns our hopes. All earth’s candles cannot make daylight if the Sun of Righteousness be eclipsed. He is the soul of our soul, the light of our light, the life of our life. Dear reader, what wouldst thou do in the world without him, when thou wakest up and lookest forward to the day’s battle? What wouldst thou do at night, when thou comest home jaded and weary, if there were no door of fellowship between thee and Christ? Blessed be his name, he will not suffer us to try our lot without him, for Jesus never forsakes his own. Yet, let the thought of what life would be without him enhance his preciousness.[1. March 1, morning reading based on 1 Peter 2:7.]

That is the desire I want. This is the desire in a very real way God wants for all of us. Jesus is precious, our greatest treasure, the true object of our joy. “Words cannot set forth the preciousness of the Lord Jesus to his people”.