This morning as I was enjoying on social media the many Thanksgiving photos of dear friends and their smiling families seated at Turkey feasts, a thought occurred to me. There are many who are not “feeling” the joy as the holidays are now upon us. Later, I read the following daily devotional by Charles Spurgeon with my husband and felt compelled to share this as an encouragement for any who might need it. ( I would just like to clarify, I’m specifically referring to those who are in a low place by CHOICE and not those who are grieving or who suffer from clinical depression.)
“Get thee up into the high mountain.” – Isaiah 40:9
Each believer should be thirsting for God, for the living God, and longing to climb the hill of the Lord, and see him face to face. We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. My soul thirsteth to drink deep of the cup which is reserved for those who reach the mountain’s brow, and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun; they eat dust like the serpent when they might taste the ambrosial meat of angels; they are content to wear the miner’s garb when they might put on king’s robes; tears mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof, and view the goodly land and Lebanon. Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition! Cast away thy sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with thy chaste and pure love to Christ, thy soul’s Husband. Make him the source, the centre, and the circumference of all thy soul’s range of delight. What enchants thee into such folly as to remain in a pit when thou mayst sit on a throne? Live not in the lowlands of bondage now that mountain liberty is conferred upon thee. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things more sublime and heavenly. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God!
“When wilt thou come unto me, Lord?
Oh come, my Lord most dear!
Come near, come nearer, nearer still,
I’m blest when thou art near.”
Dear Reader, aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to Heaven! Nearer to God! LH
Featured Image Source
Latest posts by Lisa Hempel (see all)
- What Is So Good About Good Friday? - March 29, 2024
- This Little Light Of Mine - December 14, 2022
- It Is Well - September 13, 2020