"The only
true delight "
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
for thy love is better than wine"
(Song of Solomon 1:2)
Nothing gives the believer so much joy as fellowship with
Christ. He has enjoyment as others have in the common mercies of life, he can
be glad both in God's gifts and God's works; but in all these separately, yea,
and in all of them added together, he doth not find such substantial delight as
in the matchless person of his Lord Jesus.
He has wine which no vineyard on earth ever yielded;
he has bread which all the cornfields of Egypt could never bring forth.
Where can such sweetness be found as we have tasted in
communion with our Beloved? In our esteem, the joys of earth are little better
than husks for swine compared with Jesus, the heavenly manna.
We would rather have one mouthful of Christ's love,
and a sip of his fellowship, than a whole world full of carnal delight.
What is the chaff to the wheat? What is the sparkling
paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the glorious reality? What is
time's mirth, in its best trim, compared to our Lord Jesus in his most despised
estate? If you know anything of the inner life, you will confess that our
highest, purest, and most enduring joys must be the fruit of the tree of life
which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.
No spring yields such sweet water as that well of God
which was digged with the soldier's spear. All earthly bliss is of the earth
earthy, but the comforts of Christ's presence are like himself, heavenly. We
can review our communion with Jesus, and find no regrets of emptiness therein;
there are no dregs in this wine, no dead flies in this ointment.
The joy of the Lord is solid and enduring. Vanity hath
not looked upon it, but discretion and prudence testify that it abideth the
test of years, and is in time and in eternity worthy to be called "the
only true delight".
For nourishment, consolation, exhilaration, and
refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Let us drink to the full this
evening.
C. H. Spurgeon