Why Cleave to the Dust?
Jesus is far more satisfying than any of the world’s pleasures
It’s no secret that Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, has a wonderful way with words. As I read his morning devotional, I was struck not simply by the message of the devotional—which is encouraging—but I was taken aback by the phrasing of words, the language used to convey the meaning. It was beautiful.
Spurgeon wrote,
He bids me, “Rise up,” and well he may; for I have long enough been lying among the pots of worldliness. He is risen, I am risen in him, why then should I cleave unto the dust (italics added)?
These words from Spurgeon are taken from Solomon 2:10, which says, “Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.” There are two things Spurgeon focuses on, and they are important things to consider, to meditate on.
Christ Jesus loves us, friend. He loves you. Yes, you—you in all your filth, in all your mess, in all your sin. We are loved by God in Christ—for eternity. This precious truth should stir our souls; it ought to penetrate the depths of our hearts and create in us an affection for the gospel that is unshakeable.
But even more, the love of Christ should compel us to see the putridity of lower things, of earthly pleasures, of temporary pursuits. And yet, time and time again, we find ourselves allured by trivial things, by worldly enticements that supposedly supersede Christ’s love. We must “come away” from “pots of worldliness” and run full speed to God’s sovereign, loving, outstretched arms in Christ.
This is the Christian life, though, isn’t? We perpetually find ourselves too attracted to the things the world offers; we are too easily swayed in the direction of temporary pleasures over the pleasures found in Christ. Of course, we must remember Psalm 16:11, which says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
We must constantly remind ourselves that there are countless more pleasures at the right hand of God compared to the finite pleasures of this world. It brings to mind the quote from CS Lewis, which says,
It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
We are far too easily pleased, indeed. It’s easy to believe mud pies are more satisfying than spending the day on the beach when we aren’t focused on it. Further, it’s easy to think the world’s pleasures are better when we don’t meditate on who we are and what we have in Christ. Let us, then, meditate on Christ’s resurrection; let us, then, ponder the implications of our being found in Christ; let us, then, fix our gaze on the glory of God and his love to us in Christ.
Then, and only then, will we leave the dust and pursue the greater pleasures and joy in Christ.