Evening, May 17

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee."

  Isaiah 41:9

   If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical
   effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful
   servants, we certainly are unprofitable ones, but yet, blessed be his
   name, we are his servants, wearing his livery, feeding at his table,
   and obeying his commands. We were once the servants of sin, but he who
   made us free has now taken us into his family and taught us obedience
   to his will. We do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we
   could. As we hear God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art my servant," we
   can answer with David, "I am thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds."
   But the Lord calls us not only his servants, but his chosen ones--"I
   have chosen thee." We have not chosen him first, but he hath chosen us.
   If we be God's servants, we were not always so; to sovereign grace the
   change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the
   voice of unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an
   everlasting love." Long ere time began or space was created God had
   written upon his heart the names of his elect people, had predestinated
   them to be conformed unto the image of his Son, and ordained them heirs
   of all the fulness of his love, his grace, and his glory. What comfort
   is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will he yet cast us away?
   He knew how stiffnecked we should be; he understood that our hearts
   were evil, and yet he made the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle
   lover. He doth not feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty
   from his church's eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her
   unfaithfulness. Nay, he married her in old eternity; and it is written
   of Jehovah, "He hateth putting away." The eternal choice is a bond upon
   our gratitude and upon his faithfulness which neither can disown.