No healthy Christian can be happy without the presence of Christ. For what the sun is to the day, the moon to the night, or the rain to the soil that is Jesus to the soul. What a day would be without the sun, or the night without the moon, or the earth without moisture, that would the soul of the believer be without Christ. And yet we often lose a sense of the presence of Jesus, and sin away the enjoyment of his love. As the church of old who retired to bed, when she should have been actively employed for him, and then complained, "By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves, I sought him but I found him not." Jesus will not indulge idleness, nor sanction sloth. Therefore she had to arise, go about the city, and inquire of the watchmen, nor could she again enjoy his presence until she had passed by them all, and then with a glad heart she exclaimed, "I found him whom my soul loves!" (Song of Solomon 3:4.)
Here is a pleasing fact, the lost Savior may be found; or the forfeited presence of Jesus may be regained. When convinced of our folly, when humbled under a sense of our sin, when sighing, and crying, with ardent longing, we seek him, then he will give us a fresh manifestation of his love, his great love. Again will he appear to us, disclosing the glories of his person, the beauty of his character, and the excellency of his salvation. Then we afresh perceive his glory, and beauty, and exact adaptation to us, and our love is drawn out to him anew.
Glorious as he appeared at first, every new manifestation of his grace seems to enhance his glory, and bring out some fresh and richer beauty. Then, our sense of our interest in him is sweetly renewed and deepened, and we claim him with confidence as our beloved, our Savior, and our friend. The heart glows with the richest enjoyment, the bosom heaves with ecstatic delight, and the soul overflows with the most pleasurable emotions. Oh, how precious is Jesus now! How wonderful his love. How glorious his grace. How tender his mercy. How efficacious his blood. How magnificent his righteousness. Christ, and everything in Christ, Christ, and everything connected with Christ is unspeakably beautiful and glorious; so that we lack words to express our thoughts, and we lack thoughts to embody our feelings, which are exquisitely delightful. Who can describe the rapture of a soul, which has been walking in darkness, mourning for the Savior but can now exclaim, "I have found him whom my soul loves!"
[James Smith]
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