by Doug Rehberg
“What devotional do you use?” It’s a question that’s often asked. There are many fine ones, but my enduring favorite is Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon.
The truth is that I could recommend nearly every Morning and Evening passage to you. But as we begin this new year, here’s one that I am compelled to bring to your attention. It’s Spurgeon’s comment on the profound question asked by the Pharisees in Matthew 22:42, “What do you think about the Christ?” Spurgeon says:
The great test of your soul's health is, What think you about the Christ? Is He "the most excellent of men" to you --"the chief among ten thousand"-- the "altogether lovely"? Wherever Christ is thus esteemed, all the faculties of the spiritual man exercise themselves with energy. I will judge your piety by this barometer: does Christ stand high or low with you? If you have thought little of Christ, if you have been content to live without His presence, if you have cared little for His honor, if you have been neglectful of His laws, then I know that your soul is sick--God grant that it may not be sick to death! But if the first thought of your spirit has been, “How can I honor Jesus?” If the daily desire of your soul has been, "If only I knew where to find Him!" I tell you that you may have a thousand infirmities, and even scarcely know whether you are a child of God at all, and yet I am persuaded, beyond a doubt, that you are safe, since Jesus is great in your esteem. I don’t care about your rags, what do you think about His royal apparel? I don’t care about your wounds, though they bleed in torrents, what do you think about His wounds? Are they like glittering rubies in your estimation? I think no less of you, even though you lie like Lazarus on the manure pile, and the dogs lick you --I don’t judge you by your poverty: what do you think about the King in His beauty? Has He a glorious high throne in your heart? Would you set Him higher if you could? Would you be willing to die if you could but add another trumpet to the strain which proclaims His praise? Ah! then it is well with you. Whatever you may think of yourself, if Christ be great to you, you shall be with Him before long.
“What shall we pray for this year?” For health? For wealth? For a new this or that? How about a greater appreciation for Jesus - all He is and all He’s done!
