March 20
Morning
"My beloved." — Son_2:8
This was a golden name which the ancient Church in her most joyous
moments was wont to give to the Anointed of the Lord. When the time of the
singing of birds was come, and the voice of the turtle was heard in her land,
her love-note was sweeter than either, as she sang, "My beloved is mine
and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies." Ever in her song of songs doth
she call him by that delightful name, "My beloved!" Even in the long
winter, when idolatry had withered the garden of the Lord, her prophets found
space to lay aside the burden of the Lord for a little season, and to say, as
Esaias did, "Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved
touching his vineyard." Though the saints had never seen his face, though
as yet he was not made flesh, nor had dwelt among us, nor had man beheld his
glory, yet he was the consolation of Israel, the hope and joy of all the
chosen, the "beloved" of all those who were upright before the Most
High. We, in the summer days of the Church, are also wont to speak of Christ as
the best beloved of our soul, and to feel that he is very precious, the
"chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely." So true is
it that the Church loves Jesus, and claims him as her beloved, that the apostle
dares to defy the whole universe to separate her from the love of Christ, and
declares that neither persecutions, distress, affliction, peril, or the sword
have been able to do it; nay, he joyously boasts, "In all these things we
are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
O that we knew more of thee, thou ever precious one!
"My sole possession is thy love;
In earth beneath, or heaven above,
I have no other store;
And though with fervent suit I pray,
And importune thee day by day,
I ask thee nothing more."
Song of
Solomon 2:8
voice: Son_5:2;
Joh_3:29, Joh_10:4-5,
Joh_10:27; Rev_3:20
leaping: 2Sa_6:16;
Isa_35:6; Jer_48:27;
Luk_6:23; Act_3:8,
Act_14:10
the mountains: Isa_40:3-4,
Isa_44:23, Isa_49:11-13, Isa_55:12-13;
Luk_3:4-6
Evening
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
church." — Eph_5:25
What a golden example Christ gives to his disciples! Few masters could
venture to say, "If you would practise my teaching, imitate my life;"
but as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, he can
point to himself as the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The
Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model. Under no
circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect the grace which was in
him. As a husband, the Christian is to look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus,
and he is to paint according to that copy. The true Christian is to be such a
husband as Christ was to his church. The love of a husband is special. The Lord
Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar affection, which is set upon her
above the rest of mankind: "I pray for them, I pray not for the
world." The elect church is the favourite of heaven, the treasure of
Christ, the crown of his head, the bracelet of his arm, the breastplate of his
heart, the very centre and core of his love. A husband should love his wife
with a constant love, for thus Jesus loves his church. He does not vary in his
affection. He may change in his display of affection, but the affection itself
is still the same. A husband should love his wife with an enduring love, for
nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." A true husband loves his wife with a hearty love,
fervent and intense. It is not mere lip-service. Ah! beloved, what more could
Christ have done in proof of his love than he has done? Jesus has a delighted
love towards his spouse: He prizes her affection, and delights in her with
sweet complacence. Believer, you wonder at Jesus' love; you admire it-are you
imitating it? In your domestic relationships is the rule and measure of your
love-"even as Christ loved the church?"
Ephesians 5:25
love: Eph_5:28;
Gen_2:24, Gen_24:67;
2Sa_12:3; Pro_5:18-19;
Col_3:19; 1Pe_3:7
loved: Eph_5:2;
Mat_20:28; Luk_22:19-20; Joh_6:51;
Act_20:28; Gal_1:4, Gal_2:20;
1Ti_2:6; 1Pe_1:18-21;
Rev_1:5, Rev_5:9
Daily Devotions.
Extract from
e-Sword- the sword of the LORD with an
electronic edge.
Through the Bible Day by Day.(F.B Meyer)
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