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Morning and Evening

May 17, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"Thou art My servant; I have chosen thee." — Isaiah 41:9 · KJV

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, and we are certainly unprofitable ones, but blessed be His name, we are His servants, wearing His uniform, eating at His table, and obeying His commands. We were once the servants of sin, but He who set us free has 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. When we hear God's voice saying to us, "Thou art My servant," we can answer with David, "I am thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds." Yet the Lord calls us not only His servants but His chosen ones: "I have chosen thee." We did not choose Him first; He chose us. If we are God's servants now, we were not always so, and the change must be credited entirely to His sovereign grace. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Long before time began or space was made, God had written the names of His chosen people on His heart, had marked them out to be conformed to the image of His Son, and had appointed them heirs of the whole fullness of His love, His grace, and His glory. What comfort there is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will He cast us away now? He knew how stubborn we would prove; He understood how evil our hearts were, and still He made the choice. Our Savior is no fickle lover. He is not enchanted for a while by a passing gleam of beauty in His church's eye, only to discard her later because of her unfaithfulness. No, He married her in eternity past, and it is written of Yahweh, "He hateth putting away." That eternal choice binds our gratitude and binds His faithfulness, and neither can disown it.