Evening, December 18
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Proverbs 27:23
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy
herds."
Proverbs 27:23
Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking, when he will
cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and ascertain
decisively whether his trade is prosperous or declining. Every man who
is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will cry, "Search me, O God, and try
me"; and he will frequently set apart special seasons for
self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and
his soul. The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old
his servants knew him as "the Lord which searcheth the heart and trieth
the reins of the children of men." Let me stir you up in his name to
make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come
short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does, that which
God himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself this
evening. Let the oldest saint look well to the fundamentals of his
piety, for grey heads may cover black hearts: and let not the young
professor despise the word of warning, for the greenness of youth may
be joined to the rottenness of hypocrisy. Every now and then a cedar
falls into our midst. The enemy still continues to sow tares among the
wheat. It is not my aim to introduce doubts and fears into your mind;
nay, verily, but I shall hope the rather that the rough wind of
self-examination may help to drive them away. It is not security, but
carnal security, which we would kill; not confidence, but fleshly
confidence, which we would overthrow; not peace, but false peace, which
we would destroy. By the precious blood of Christ, which was not shed
to make you a hypocrite, but that sincere souls might show forth his
praise, I beseech you, search and look, lest at the last it be said of
you, "Mene, Mene, Tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art
found wanting."