I keep thinking about this reading from Morning and Evening from December 16th. It is one of my favorites from Spurgeon’s devotional.
The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, “Come.” The Jewish law harshly said, “Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live.” The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before his sheep, bidding them follow him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, “Come.” The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.
From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, “Come, come unto me.” As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, “Come,” even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear his animating voice calling you after him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with which he shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be—“Come, ye blessed of my Father.”
Nay, further, this is not only Christ’s cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ—“Come! come!” You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, “Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus.” You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is “Come,” your response to him will be, “Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy service.”
If we are anxious because we have so much to do to get ready for Christmas, Jesus has made a way for us to come and cast our cares upon Him.
If the holidays bring pain or sorrow because of the loss of family or friends, the reminder of painful memories, or feeling lonely, Jesus has made a way for us to come and be comforted for He is near to the broken hearted and binds their wounds.
If we have conformed to the world’s ideas of Christmas, emphasizing gifts and traditions over celebrating the birth of our Savior, we can come and confess our sins for He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
How precious to be able this day to come and adore Him whose language towards us who believe is always and forever, “Come.”
