"...all wintertime so long as the Savior is away."

It is winter, but today we had 48 degrees and a thrilling trickle of melting snow that said "spring! spring!" Nevertheless, it will get colder again.

My longing for spring reminded me of this wonderful passage from the Memoirs of Robert Murray McCheyne that I read awhile ago.

"In spiritual thing, this world is all wintertime so long as the Savior is away. To them that are in Christ there are some sweet glistenings of his countenance, there are meltings of his love, and the sweet song of the turtledove when His Holy Spirit dwells in the bosom; still it is but wintertime till our Lord shall come. But then, 'to you that fear his name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.' And if before He comes we should go away to be where He is, still we shall enter into a world of perpetual summer - we shall behold His glory which the Father gave Him. "- Robert Murray McCheyne

To live by faith

These words about Moses from Hebrews 11 have been my meditation during the past few days:

"He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible." Heb. 11:26-27 ESV

"looking to the reward" and "seeing him who is invisible" That is living by faith.
(Compare it to Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
and 11:6: "without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.")

When I read those awesome words, realizing in a fuller way what it means to live by faith, this question burned itself onto my mind:

How much of what I have done, or will do today, will be done because I am "looking to the reward"?
That is living by faith.

Oh, what this means! How faithless we are! We let the reward become so little to us. There have been times when a new recipe is more engaging to my heart than the ultimate, sweet, infinite, glorious, towering reward of standing joyfully in the presence of the I AM in His gloriously radiant divine manhood, who is my Redeemer, who has been my shield and will be my very great reward forever and ever and ever.... Lord, increase my faith! Oh to be one who does all things because HE IS and because He is the Rewarder of them that earnestly seek Him. Oh for eyes that see Him who is invisible before anything else in the world, and look to the reward.