January 7

Morning

For me to live is Christ. — Phil 1:21

The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Savior making an atoning sacrifice for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth—the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price—for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for Him; to His glory we would live, and in defense of His gospel we would die. He is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character.

Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ—nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep—Christ. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that, for you to live is Christ?

Your business—are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self-aggrandizement and for family advantage? Do you ask, “Is that an evil reason?” For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery?

Many there are, who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he has lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Jesus alone is the true life of a Christian—its source, its sustenance, its model, its end, all gathered up in one word. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in You and to You. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.”

Evening

My sister, my spouse. — Song 4:12

Observe the sweet titles with which the heavenly Solomon with intense affection, addresses His bride the church.

My sister—one near to me by ties of nature, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse—nearest and dearest, united to me by the tenderest bands of love; my sweet companion, part of my own self.

My sister—by my Incarnation, which makes me bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. My spouse—by heavenly betrothal, in which I have espoused you unto myself in righteousness.

My sister—whom I knew of old, and over whom I watched from her earliest infancy. My spouse—taken from among all others, embraced by arms of love, and affianced unto me forever.

See how true it is—that our royal Kinsman is not ashamed of us, for He dwells with manifest delight upon this two-fold relationship. We have the word “my” twice in our verse—as if Christ dwelt with rapture on His possession of His Church. “His delights were with the sons of men,” because those sons of men were His own chosen ones. He, the Shepherd, sought the sheep—because they were His sheep. He has gone about “to seek and to save that which was lost,” because that which was lost—was His long before it was lost to itself or lost to Him. The church is the exclusive portion of her Lord; none else may claim a partnership, or pretend to share her love. Jesus, your church delights to have it so!

Let every believing soul drink solace out of these wells. Soul! Christ is near to you in ties of relationship; Christ is dear to you in bonds of marriage union and you are dear to Him. Behold, He grasps both of your hands with both His own, saying, “My sister, my spouse!” Mark the two sacred holdfasts by which your Lord gets such a double hold of you—that He neither can nor will ever let you go. Be not, O beloved, slow to return the hallowed flame of His love.