There is no living comfortably, and there is no living with the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit in the heart, if we wander from the simplicity of our confidence in Christ. There are many believers who wander out of their place. What now is a believer’s place? A believer’s place is in the bosom of his Lord, or at the right hand of his Master, or sitting at His feet like Mary. Ah! Some of you never woke in the morning without thinking of Him, and all day long a sense of His presence was in your heart. How you begrudged the world the hours you had to give to business; and when you locked up your heart at night, you always gave Jesus Christ the key! How sweet His ordinances were to you then, because you could see Christ through them! How delightful were prayer meetings and Bible studies then, because you saw Jesus there and talked with Him!

But what about your present state? Perhaps you have wandered from your place; you are not living near to Christ as you used to do. Hence spiritual things have but very little comfort in them; they are dull and tedious; and services which were once as marrow and fatness to you have now become dry bones. Your prayer closet, too, is much neglected; your Bible is not studied as it was. You have lost your first love.

I appeal to you, have you not lost also your first comfort? Are you not like a bird that has wandered from her nest? Believe me, there is no solid joy, no seraphic rapture, no hallowed peace this side of heaven, except by living close under the shadow of the cross, and nestling in the arms of Jesus.

Oh! That we should be so foolish! The bird does not forget her nest but we do forget our Lord. We have need to say with the psalmist, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee!” (Ps. 116:7).