Daily Wisdom
God has planted and created everything mankind needs to live an abundant life on this earth and that which he did not give us directly he gave us the talent to create on our own that which we needed using that which He gave us. He appointed us stewards to over His vineyards and bid us enjoy all that He provided yet man took these things to be their rightful property and began abusing both the gift and the giver for selfish prophet. I am speaking now of the Church for that is God’s real treasure, for He cares for the souls of man and calls us to work in those harvest fields where the fruits are ready for harvest He has atoned for their sin, the Spirit has prepared the ground and planted the seed and he sends us to carry the Light of Christ so that they may grow and find the path to the cross in that Light just as we did as we struggled in the darkness of sin.
Jim Haynes – August 13, 2009
"The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted."
Psalms 104:16
Lebanon's cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is not planted by the hand of man, nor planted of ones self, rather the Christian is planted by the hands of his Creator. The mysterious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which He had Himself prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, un-moistened by human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplies them all of their needs. So it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith trusting only in his Creator. He is independent of man’s world, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to Him alone. Just so they are God's trees, kept and preserved by Him, and by Him alone. It is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not a hot house plant, sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars which He Himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter's snows. Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only. The Lord, even the Lord alone has been everything to the cedars, and, therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, "Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” In the believer there is nothing that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord's own hand, and to Him our Creator and Lord of life, let all the glory and honor be ascribed. For the true believer, to live is to serve the giver of life for that is our call; even so the Master sustains the lives of His faithful.
From Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
No comments:
Post a Comment