Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: September 2nd

Be diligent. - 2 Peter 3:14.

THIS exhortation will apply not only to our spiritual engagements, but also to the duties of relative and secular life. Hear Solomon:-“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not forever; and doth the crown endure to every generation?” And says the apostle to the Romans, “Be not slothful in business.” And says he, better still, in his address to the Thessalonians, “When we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some among you which walk disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now, them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.” If a man thinks he is called to give up his profession or his business, very well; but, while he remains in it, let him not be a mere blank. To how many is the Grand Husbandman continually saying, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” Has no one hired you? Is there nothing for you to do? Seneca said he would rather be sick in bed than appear to be idle. To whom did God of old appear in a way of privilege and honour, that was not at the time actively engaged? Another being is more likely to appear to the disengaged and idle. As Watts says,-

“Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do.”

David was loitering on the housetop instead of being at the head of his army, when he entered into temptation. There are dangers in business unquestionably, but there are greater dangers in solitude, unless we can leave Satan and our own hearts behind us. Cotton Mather therefore says, “I am always glad when I am fully employed, for when the enemy comes to me with his toys and temptations, then I say to him, I am not able to attend to thee now.” God never intended that any man in this world should live in a state of independence, if by independence we mean inaction and un-usefulness. If a man be free from the toils and cares of business, he is under the more obligation to glorify God and to serve his generation according to his will.

Wherefore, let us “be diligent that we may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. - Isaiah 45:19.

HERE is an intimation, and more than an intimation, a gracious assurance, that God is the hearer and answerer of prayer. According to some, the success of prayer is confined entirely to its exercise and influence. That there is an influence derivable from the exercise of prayer cannot be doubted. But though this is truth, it is not the whole truth, nor the principal truth. Prayer benefits us by its very operation, because it brings us into a proper state and frame of mind, and because if we pray sincerely we shall act correspondingly. But if we look into the Scriptures, we shall find many cases where the blessing could not have resulted from the operation of the prayer, but from the interposition of God as manifested in answer to prayer.

Jacob’s prayer did not soften Esau’s heart by its exercise, for Esau knew not that he was praying for him, but it was softened by the answers of God. The same with Hezekiah. The addition of fifteen years to his life was not the result of the sanative operation of his prayer, like the application of the bunch of figs to the boil, but it was the answer of God to it. And if there be any meaning in the Scriptures, there is something to be done, something to be communicated by God himself as a God hearing and answering prayer.

The husbandman’s labour does benefit him, for it aids his harvest; but he wants a crop: and he manures, and ploughs, and sows with this view and expectation, and he obtains one. And if a man prays aright and according to the Scriptures, he will believe in this, and be affected by it: that God does something, that God conveys something in the course of his providence and grace in answer to prayer. The answer to prayer should be always regarded, but there are many persons who pay no regard to their prayers. Nothing can be such a mockery of the majesty of God as appearing to draw forth his attention when there is no intention of noticing his benefits. In reference to answers to prayer it must, however, be allowed there is some difficulty in explaining and understanding the subject.

God does not always answer by granting the same things we implore, but he acts like a wise and kind father who gives not according to the child’s desire, but according to the child’s necessities; not according to what he asks, but according to what he requires; not according to his wishes, therefore, but according to his wants. The child may wish for a holiday, but he wants school; he may wish for sweetmeats, but he wants medicine. The goodness and wisdom of the Father must appear in giving him not what he asks or wishes for, but what would be really good for him. So it is with God; many of these answers to prayer come in the way of great troubles and huge afflictions, and so they are not recognised, they are the last things in the world we should suppose to be answers to prayer.

God is the Lord of all, and without going out of his ordinary course of nature and providence, he can answer prayer; and thus many answers escape our notice, because we look for something too particular and too remarkable. After all, if we do find a difficulty in the case, if we cannot easily determine what is an answer to prayer, let us adhere to the language of Scripture, and remember that we cannot pray in vain, for he hath not said unto the seed of Jacob, “Seek ye me in vain.” Here we may rest, here we may have a full persuasion that “it is good for us to draw near unto God.”