Morning, January 11
Go To Evening Reading
“These have no root.”
Luke 8:13
My soul, examine thyself this morning by the light of this text. Thou
hast received the word with joy; thy feelings have been stirred and
a lively impression has been made; but, remember, that to receive
the word in the ear is one thing, and to receive Jesus into thy very
soul is quite another; superficial feeling is often joined to inward
hardness of heart, and a lively impression of the word is not always
a lasting one. In the parable, the seed in one case fell upon ground
having a rocky bottom, covered over with a thin layer of earth; when
the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the
hard stone and therefore it spent its strength in pushing its green
shoot aloft as high as it could, but having no inward moisture derived
from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been
making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner
life? Good growth takes place upwards and downwards at the same time.
Am I rooted in sincere fidelity and love to Jesus? If my heart remains
unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate
for a season, but it must ultimately wither, for it cannot flourish
on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness
as rapid in growth and as wanting in endurance as Jonah’s gourd; let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus, above
all let me feel the energy of his Holy Spirit, and then I shall possess
an abiding and enduring seed in my soul. If my mind remains as obdurate
as it was by nature, the sun of trial will scorch, and my hard heart
will help to cast the heat the more terribly upon the ill-covered
seed, and my religion will soon die, and my despair will be terrible;
therefore, O heavenly Sower, plough me first, and then cast the truth
into me, and let me yield thee a bounteous harvest.