Morning, December 27
Go To Evening Reading
“Can the rush grow up without mire?”
Job 8:11
The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is
no substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every
wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason
the rush is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled
with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived;
perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I
be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes
its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root;
let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness
is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of
water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this
my case? Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion
is profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal
comforts are received from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite,
and like the withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me
of outward joys. But can I honestly assert that when bodily comforts
have been few, and my surroundings have been rather adverse to grace
than at all helpful to it, I have still held fast my integrity? Then
have I hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The rush
cannot grow without mire, but plants of the Lord’s right hand planting can and do flourish even in the year of drought.
A godly man often grows best when his worldly circumstances decay.
He who follows Christ for his bag is a Judas; they who follow for
loaves and fishes are children of the devil; but they who attend him
out of love to himself are his own beloved ones. Lord, let me find
my life in thee , and not in the mire of this world’s favour or gain.