Daily Devotional

January 29

A First Book of Daily Readings

by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (selected by Frank Cumbers)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

The Lamb's Book of Life

Do not announce to others in any shape or form what you are doing.... Do not even announce it to yourself.... Note that our Lord does not stop at saying you must not sound a trumpet before you and announce it to the world; you do not even announce it to yourself...; having done it in secret, you do not take your little book and put down: "Well, I have done that. Of course I haven't told anybody else that I have done it." ... In effect our Lord said: "Don't keep these books at all; don't keep spiritual ledgers; don't keep profit and loss accounts in your life; don't write a diary in this sense; just forget all about it....'

And what is the result of all this? It is glorious. This is how our Lord puts it. He says, "You must not keep the account. God does that. He sees everything and He records it all, and do you know what He will do? He will reward you openly." ... If we just forget all about it and do everything to please Him, we shall find that God will have an account.
Nothing we have done will be forgotten; our smallest act will be remembered. Do you remember what He said in Matthew 25? "When I was in prison you visited me...." And they will say, "When did we do all this? We were not aware we have done this." "Of course you have done it," He will reply; "it is there in the Book."

He keeps the books. We must leave the account to Him. "You know," He says, "you did it all in secret; but I will reward you openly. I may not be rewarding you openly in this world, but as certainly as you are alive, I will reward you openly at the Great Day ... when the great Book shall be opened ... and I will say, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant; ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' "

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 19-20

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“Text reproduced from ‘A First Book of Daily Readings’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, published by Epworth Press 1970 & 1977 © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Used with permission.”