“I sought him,
but I found him not.” – Song of Songs 3:1
Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell
you the most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by
restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose
Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the
sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust
doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ
in the Scriptures.
It is a true proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped
it, it is there." So look for Christ where you lost Him, for He has not
gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the
pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost
his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than
to go one mile back for the lost evidence.
Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to
Him. But how is it you have lost Him? One would have thought you would never
have parted with such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose
words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that
you did not watch Him every moment for fear of losing sight of Him? Yet, since
you have let Him go, what a mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you
mournfully groan, "O that I knew where I might find Him!"
Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord.
Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without
water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest-not bound to the tree of
life. With thine whole heart seek Him, and He will be found of thee: only give
thyself thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover Him to
thy joy and gladness.
Thanks for the time of Reflection,
R. Solomon
(This Devotional Reflection Issue is an excerpt from Charles
Spurgeon's Devotional “Morning and Evening: Daily Readings.”)