January 8, Morning
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"The iniquity of the holy things." — Exodus 28:38 · KJV
What a veil is lifted by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause a while and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship — its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart, and forgetfulness of God — what a full measure we have there! Our work for the Lord — its rivalry, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, and unbelief — what a mass of defilement there! Our private devotions — their laxity, coldness, neglect, drowsiness, and vanity — what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully, we would find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight. Dr. Payson, writing to his brother, says: "My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the improvement of both proceed either from pride, or vanity, or indolence. I look at the weeds that overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were rooted up. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, 'In what fine order is my garden kept!' This is pride. Or it may be that my neighbors may look over the wall and say, 'How finely your garden flourishes!' This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence." So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods, worms hide themselves; we need not look long to find them. How cheering is the thought that when the high priest bore the iniquity of the holy things, he wore on his brow the words "HOLINESS TO THE LORD"; and even so, while Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father's face not our unholiness, but His own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!