Evening, July 10
Go To Morning Reading
“And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Genesis 1:5
The evening was “darkness” and the morning was “light,” and yet the two together are called by the name that is given to the light alone ! This is somewhat remarkable, but it has an exact analogy in spiritual
experience. In every believer there is darkness and light, and yet
he is not to be named a sinner because there is sin in him, but he
is to be named a saint because he possesses some degree of holiness.
This will be a most comforting thought to those who are mourning their
infirmities, and who ask, “Can I be a child of God while there is so much darkness in me?” Yes; for you, like the day, take not your name from the evening,
but from the morning; and you are spoken of in the word of God as
if you were even now perfectly holy as you will be soon. You are called
the child of light, though there is darkness in you still. You are
named after what is the predominating quality in the sight of God,
which will one day be the only principle remaining. Observe that the evening comes first . Naturally we are darkness first in order of time, and the gloom
is often first in our mournful apprehension, driving us to cry out
in deep humiliation, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” The place of the morning is second, it dawns when grace overcomes
nature. It is a blessed aphorism of John Bunyan, “That which is last, lasts forever.” That which is first, yields in due season to the last; but nothing
comes after the last. So that though you are naturally darkness, when
once you become light in the Lord, there is no evening to follow;
“thy sun shall no more go down.” The first day in this life is an evening and a morning; but the second
day, when we shall be with God, forever, shall be a day with no evening,
but one, sacred, high, eternal noon.