Yes, He is very precious to you
who believe. The sense we have of our continual
and absolute need of Christ has a tendency to engage our affections
to him. At our first conversion, when
we were turned from darkness to light, we saw ourselves lost
and that none but Christ could save us. We felt the wounds of
a guilty conscience, and we knew that He alone could heal them.
We trembled before the offended majesty of God, and we were persuaded
that He alone could deliver us from the wrath to come. We saw
that there was no remission of sin, no reconciliation with God,
no salvation, but through Jesus. Hence, He became, at that period,
all in all to us. We still see the absolute necessity
of this precious Savior in every respect, so that without Him
we can do nothing, as He Himself has told us. We have need of
Him when we are dark to enlighten us, when we are dull and lifeless
to quicken us, when we are weak to strengthen us, when we are
tempted to support us. when we have fallen, to raise
and restore us, when we are disquieted with fears, to encourage us,
when we are full of doubts and perplexity, to comfort us and
give us peace. when we are staggering at the
promises through unbelief to increase our faith. As none but
Christ can do these things for us, He must be precious to our
souls. Yes, He is very precious to you
who believe. 1 Peter 2 verse 7. If Jesus Christ is precious to
us, the bent of our souls will be towards him. We shall choose
him above and beyond every other object as our most desirable
portion, an exceeding great reward. If anything in this world is
chosen by us as our chief good, our hearts will run out in strongest
affections towards it. We shall look for our felicity
in that object, be it what it may. That object, therefore,
and not Christ, will be most precious unto us. If our regard
for the Redeemer is supreme as it ought to be, our whole hearts
will go out after Him in the most intense longings and with
the most ardent desires. The heart of a believer is restless
until it obtains a solid hope and persuasion of Christ's love,
a growing conformity to Him, and sincere delight in Him. The soul rests and acquiesces
in Him alone, and is not happy without the enjoyment of some
tokens of His love. The language of such a one is,
If I have Christ for my friend and my everlasting portion, I
have all. When his face is hidden and his
comforts withdrawn, I seek him with restless desire and often
cry, Oh, that I knew where I might find him. Reign, blessed Jesus,
in my heart. Reign supreme and without a rival. I would sincerely love you above
all things in heaven or earth. I see that you are infinitely
glorious in yourself and worthy of my highest esteem and love. You are the only all-sufficient
good, the overflowing spring of grace and blessedness. All things beneath and besides
you are vanity and emptiness. In comparison with you, they
are less than nothing. You have drawn my heart towards
you and made me willing to make choice of you as my Savior and
my portion. I would renounce all that the
world calls good or great. that I may be entirely yours,
be my everlasting inheritance, and I shall desire nothing that
the world can bestow. Whom have I in heaven but you?
There is nothing on earth that I desire in comparison of you. What can the present world afford
to tempt me to relinquish you? I would therefore bid adieu to
the gaudy pomps and empty vanities of life, and give my heart supremely
to you. O may all the alluring trifles
and vain delights of this world stand aloof from my heart, For
I have devoted it to my Redeemer for His habitation. Keep your
distance, O captivating delusions, From the gates of my heart, where
you alone should dwell. There may you reign alone over
all my desires forever. This Puritan devotional has been
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