Fri.-Sabbath, 5/18-20/12 Devotion

Yippee--it's almost Sunday!! Here is TW, from his, "A Plea for the Godly" book. . . .

"A righteous man has more excellent freedom [than an unbeliever]. 'And I will walk at liberty,' (Psalm 119:45). Another is capable of civil freedom; he may be a Roman born, but he is still enslaved to his lusts. But a righteous person is God's freeman, (1 Corinthians 7:22). His neck is out of the devil's yoke. He is 'free from the law of sin,' (Ro-mans 8:2). He has God's free Spirit, (Psalm 51:12), which makes him free and cheerful in his obedience. The will is not compelled but changed. A regenerate person is drawn indeed by the Spirit, but sweetly, as one is drawn into a garden of spices by the fragrance of their smell. He is drawn to Christ as one is drawn with another's beauty. He is free; a righteous soul chooses the ways of God, (Psalm 119:30), and what greater act of freedom is there than an act of choice? And a saint cannot have his spiritual freedom taken from him. While be suffers in prison, his conscience is most free. In short, he is made free to enjoy 'the innumerable company of angels,' (Hebrews 12:22).

"A righteous man has more excellent food [than an unbeliever]. Car-nal men feed only on earthly provision; the righteous feeds on heav-enly. He tastes how sweet the Lord is, (Psalm 34:8). He feeds on God's love; this is the hidden manna. He eats Christ's flesh, which not only begets life, (John 6:33), but prevents death. 'This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die,' (John 6:50)--that is, not die the second death. Other bread may nauseate or cause bloating, but there is no excess here. We cannot eat too much of the Bread of Life. We cannot have too much of Christ, as one cannot have too much of health. Oh, what excellent food is this! God Himself is in this cheer!"