Morning, October 21
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
2 Corinthians 5:14
"The love of Christ constraineth us."
2 Corinthians 5:14
How much owest thou unto my Lord? Has he ever done anything for thee?
Has he forgiven thy sins? Has he covered thee with a robe of
righteousness? Has he set thy feet upon a rock? Has he established thy
goings? Has he prepared heaven for thee? Has he prepared thee for
heaven? Has he written thy name in his book of life? Has he given thee
countless blessings? Has he laid up for thee a store of mercies, which
eye hath not seen nor ear heard? Then do something for Jesus worthy of
his love. Give not a mere wordy offering to a dying Redeemer. How will
you feel when your Master comes, if you have to confess that you did
nothing for him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool,
neither flowing forth to his poor or to his work. Out on such love as
that! What do men think of a love which never shows itself in action?
Why, they say, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Who will
accept a love so weak that it does not actuate you to a single deed of
self-denial, of generosity, of heroism, or zeal! Think how he has loved
you, and given himself for you! Do you know the power of that love?
Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the
clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin. "For
Christ's sake" be this the tongue of fire that shall sit upon you: "for
Christ's sake" be this the divine rapture, the heavenly afflatus to
bear you aloft from earth, the divine spirit that shall make you bold
as lions and swift as eagles in your Lord's service. Love should give
wings to the feet of service, and strength to the arms of labour. Fixed
on God with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honour
him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing
on with an ardour never to be wearied, let us manifest the constraints
of love to Jesus. May the divine lodestone draw us heavenward towards
itself.