Daily Archives: December 16, 2005

from my reading this morning, Spurgeon says: “Come unto me.” –Matthew 11:28

The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, “Come.” The Jewish law harshly said, “Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live.” The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before His sheep, bidding them follow Him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, “Come.” The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.

At about seven tonight we lost power, so the scramble was on to find and light candles. After lighting candles, we finished our word game. Then we decided to watch a movie on my laptop, aren’t dvds great? Then everyone went to bed, it was about 1030, but I wasn’t at all tired, so using a candle I sat to read. I was struck by the quiet… there are no residual sounds from music in the house, no refrigerator humming, the heat pump wasn’t running… so it was just quiet… a quiet house, light to type this from a single candle… simple… this is solitude… for me it gives a greater meaning to the old saying, “silence is golden”, there is more good news on the phone, school is closed tomorrow, Christmas break has begun, the state truck comes by scraping the road, the sound if far clearer than usual because the machinery of this house is not working without electricity… I have not enjoyed such quiet in a good while…