TDR: 11 September (John 5:6)

‘Do you want to get well?’  (John 5:6)

The great Physician presents Himself to us this morning, and He asks, “Do you want to get well?” This is a searching question. Are you willing to be sanctified throughout? Willing that He should use what means He pleases, to conform you to Himself?

Jesus is able to sanctify us wholly; the time of mercy is now; so do we desire to be healed? If so, let us put ourselves into His hands for the purpose; let us submit without hesitation to His terms; He performs the cure and receives all the glory.

And let us not fancy that our case is hopeless, but instead let us look to Jesus, who will heal us, and heal us, gratis. Open your whole case to Him, consult Him daily, trust Him implicitly, and expect to shine before the Father’s throne as a proof of His skill and kindness.

No case can be desperate while Jesus lives to heal; no sinner can be too poor, for He heals without money and without price.

Dear Jesus! Heal us this morning! Soften our hard hearts. Regulate our disorderly wills. Elevate our earthly affections. Fill us with holiness, fill us with love. We lie at Your feet, and we trust in Your word.

Jesus, to Thee for help I call,
With pitying eye behold me fall,
Diseased at Thy throne;
Oh, heal my soul, remove my sin,
Now make the filthy leper clean,
Remove the heart of stone.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘I wonder at the taste of some of the Lord’s people, and how some professors can spend so much thought, time, and property on worldly conformity. Those things will not bear reflection; but if we visit and cheer the sick, relieve the Lord’s poor, or put gospel truth into circulation, we can look back and reflect with unmixed pleasure upon our conduct.’