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Morning and Evening

October 24, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"The trees of the Lord are full of sap." — Psalm 104:16 · KJV

Without sap the tree cannot flourish, or even exist. Vitality is essential to a Christian. There must be life — a vital principle infused into us by God the Holy Spirit — or we cannot be trees of the Lord. The mere name of being a Christian is a dead thing; we must be filled with the spirit of divine life. This life is mysterious. We do not understand the circulation of the sap, by what force it rises, and by what power it descends again; so the life within us is a sacred mystery. Regeneration is wrought by the Holy Spirit entering into a man and becoming that man's life; and this divine life in a believer afterward feeds on the flesh and blood of Christ, and is thus sustained by divine food — but whence it comes and whither it goes, who shall explain to us? What a secret thing the sap is! The roots go searching through the soil with their tiny fibers, but we cannot see them suck out the various gases, or transmute the mineral into the vegetable; this work is done down in the dark. Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hid in Him; this is the secret of the Lord. The root of the Christian life is as secret as the life itself. How constantly active is the sap in the cedar! In the Christian, the divine life is always full of energy — not always in bearing fruit, but in inward workings. Are not the believer's graces sometimes still? Yes, but his life never ceases to pulse within. He is not always working for God, but his heart is always living upon Him. As the sap shows itself in producing the leaves and fruit of the tree, so with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is outwardly shown in his walk and conversation. If you talk with him, he cannot help speaking about Jesus; if you notice his actions, you will see that he has been with Jesus. He has so much sap within that it must fill his conduct and conversation with life.