May 10

Does your heart still receive the same generous portions of spiritual nourishment when you go to commune with God? This communion should strengthen both your faith and your obedience. Or do you listen and pray, but no longer find strength to keep a promise or power to win over temptation? How you dishonor the Lord when you come down from the mount of communion and break the tables of His law as soon as you are off the place! To find no renewed faith and no renewed strength in your communion with Him is a sure sign of spiritual decline.

How easy it is to let the responsibilities of job and family leave us in a less spiritual frame of mind than we once possessed. If we let them, the cares of this world will follow us into our prayer closets and cleave to our spirits, giving a stale, earthly odor to our prayers and meditations.

One way to become weighed down by the cares of this life is to put too much stock in your worldly estate. Perhaps you work diligently but receive little remuneration, or you preach and receive little recognition. When you first became a Christian, all you cared about was getting to know Christ better. Estate and rank meant nothing to you, and life's disappointments only drew you closer to God. But now, this hankering of your heart after the world's treasures and esteem drives you relentlessly. How urgently you need to have your grace restored! If you will labor less to promote your earthly account and pray harder to improve your fund of grace, you will soon find your soul at peace with God's providence.

The Christian's armor becomes damaged in two ways. The first is by violent assault-- when you are overcome by temptation to sin. The second is by neglect-- when you fail to perform those duties which, like oil, keep your armor polished and shining. So inquire which has been the cause; it is likely the two agents have concurred.

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