“Can the rush grow up without mire?” 
              — Job 8:11

The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no
substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind
just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush
is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with
persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived;
perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I be a
hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes its very
existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the
mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is
absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of water
makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case?
Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is
profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal
comforts are received from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and
like the withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me of
outward joys. But can I honestly assert that when bodily comforts have
been few, and my surroundings have been rather adverse to grace than at
all helpful to it, I have still held fast my integrity? then have I
hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The rush cannot grow
without mire, but plants of the Lord’s right hand planting can and do
flourish even in the year of drought. A godly man often grows best when
his worldly circumstances decay. He who follows Christ for his bag is a
Judas; they who follow for loaves and fishes are children of the devil;
but they who attend him out of love to himself are his own beloved
ones. Lord, let me find my life in thee, and not in the mire of this
world’s favour or gain.

On this day...

• Deuteronomy 2 - 2023
• Deuteronomy 1 - 2023
• The Pleasure of God in His Son - 2011
• There Never Seems to Be Enough Time - 2011
• Life is at its noblest and its best when our effort co-operates with God's grace - 2011
• The bitterest ingredient in the 'cup of divine displeasure' - 2011
• Where am I bound for? For heaven--or for hell? - 2011
• RESTRAINING GRACE - 2011
• God the Father in the Holy Scriptures - 2011
• Edmund Clowney - 2011