Evening, May 17, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.” — Isaiah 41:9

If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical effect has been to make us God’s servants. We may be unfaithful servants; we certainly are unprofitable ones; but yet, thanks to his name, we are his servants, wearing his attire, feeding at his table, and obeying his commands. We were once the servants of sin, but he who made us free has now taken us into his family and taught us obedience to his will. We do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we hear God’s voice saying to us, “You are my servant,” we can answer with David, “I am your servant; you have set loose my bonds.” But the Lord calls us not only his servants, but his chosen ones—”I have chosen you.” We did not choose him first, but he has chosen us. If we are God’s servants now, we were not always so; the change must be attributed to sovereign grace. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Long before time began or space was created God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his Son, and ordained them as heirs of all the fulness of his love, his grace, and his glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, that he would yet cast us away? He knew how stiff-necked we would be; he understood that our hearts were evil, and yet he made the choice. Ah! Our Savior is no fickle lover. He does not feel enchanted for a while with some gleams of beauty from his church’s eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. No, he married her in eternity long ago; and it is written of Jehovah, “He hates putting away.” This eternal choice is a bond on our gratitude and on his faithfulness which neither can disown.