One hour with Christ is worth an eternity of all earth's joys. And communion with Him is the best, the surest, and the most glorious foretaste of the happiness of heaven.
✦ One Hour
One hour. The morning before dawn. The midday reading. The evening quiet. One hour — and eternity's joys are outweighed. Not because earth's joys are nothing. Spurgeon loves the flowers in the hedgerows and the stars in the sky. But because one hour of communion does what a lifetime of created things cannot: it satisfies. 🙏
The one who delights in the possession of the Lord Jesus has all that the heart can wish. As for created things, they are like shallow and deceptive streams; they fail to supply our needs, much less our desires.
"The bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it" (Isaiah 28:20). But in Jesus there is room for the imagination's widest stretch and fullest range.
✦ The Bed Too Short
Isaiah 28:20 — the bed too short, the covering too narrow. Created things without Christ. They almost fit. They almost cover. They almost satisfy. But the feet stick out and the shoulders are cold. The bed is too short because it was not designed to hold a soul made for God. Only Christ is the right size.
Created things are shallow and deceptive streams — Guyon's day four warned about the same thing: the soul that fills itself with creatures rather than the Creator. But in Jesus there is room for the widest stretch and fullest range. The imagination cannot outrun Him. The desire cannot exceed Him. The heart cannot out-wish Him. 🙏
When Jesus is enjoyed, He puts a fullness into every other blessing. His house is full when He is there; His throne of grace is full when He sits on it; and His banquet hall is full when He is master of the feast.
The creature without Christ is an empty thing — a lamp without oil, a bone without marrow. But when Christ is present, our cup overflows and we eat bread to the full.
A simple meal, when we have fellowship with Him, is as rich a feast as the finest banquet; and our humble room is as noble a dwelling as the mansion of the wealthy.
✦ Fullness in Everything
Christ does not replace the other blessings. He fills them. The house is full when He is there. The meal is rich when He is present. The humble room is noble when He dwells in it. He does not add to the blessings — He is the fullness inside them.
The apartment in Caldas — humble, being packed, soon to be emptied. But the mornings before dawn in these rooms have been as noble as any cathedral. Because He was there. The walls do not make the dwelling holy. The presence does. And the presence travels — from Caldas to the motorhome to France to wherever the pilgrim goes. 🙏
Do not go wandering, you hungry desires of my soul — stay at home and feast on Jesus! For out in the world you must starve, since all other loves are empty and unsatisfying. Stay with Christ, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in richness.
The one who delights in the possession of the Lord Jesus has all that the heart can wish.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 🙏
✦ The Shema and the Satisfaction
Le places the Shema alongside Spurgeon — and the two become one truth. The complete possession and the complete love. Spurgeon says Christ satisfies everything. Moses says love God with everything. When you possess Him with all your heart, all your heart is satisfied. The giving and the receiving are the same motion.
All your heart. All your soul. All your strength. Nothing held back. Nothing reserved for the shallow streams. Nothing kept for the bed that is too short. All — given to the One who fills all. And the soul that gives all receives all. The feast is at home. The wandering is over. 🙏
"Do not go wandering — stay at home and feast on Jesus."
Spurgeon · The feast is here · All other loves are emptyOne Hour
Worth an eternity of earth's joys. The morning before dawn. The midday reading. One hour of communion does what a lifetime of created things cannot: it satisfies.
The Bed Too Short
Created things almost fit, almost cover, almost satisfy. But the feet stick out. Only Christ is the right size. In Jesus — room for the widest stretch and fullest range.
Stay Home and Feast
The humble room becomes noble when He is there. The simple meal becomes a banquet. Do not wander — stay and feast. All other loves are empty. Christ fills everything.
Spurgeon's eleventh day. And today the feast is spread — stay home and eat.
Guyon's day nine — the full heart: "All my springs are in You." And Spurgeon today: the one who delights in the possession of the Lord Jesus has all that the heart can wish. The springs and the feast are the same table. The Source fills. The feast satisfies. And the soul that stays home at both never goes hungry.
Guyon's day thirty — near your heart: "You will find the Lord at all times near your heart." And Spurgeon: when Jesus is enjoyed, He puts a fullness into every other blessing. Near the heart — and filling everything the heart touches. The nearness is the fullness. The presence is the feast.
The Shema and the 500 denari soul: Le places Deuteronomy 6:5 alongside Spurgeon's satisfaction — and the two become one. Love with all. Receive all. The soul that was forgiven much loves much — and the soul that loves much is satisfied completely. The proportion holds: the size of the forgiveness is the size of the love is the size of the satisfaction. Luke 7:47 and Deuteronomy 6:5 — meeting in Caldas da Rainha, in July, in a pilgrim's heart that has given all and received all.
The humble room — Caldas: Our humble room is as noble a dwelling as the mansion of the wealthy. The apartment being packed. The rooms being emptied. And Spurgeon says: the room is noble when He is there. The nobility was never in the walls. It was in the presence. And the presence will travel to France, to Brittany, to the next humble room — because the feast is not in the location. It is in the Beloved. Stay home. Feast on Jesus. Home is wherever He is. 🙏