A Charles Dickens Devotional

By Thomas Nelson

A unique, beautiful devotional that offers words and themes from one of the best-loved authors of all time.

Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago, yet he crafted stories that translate well to a modern Christian’s daily life. A Charles Dickens Devotional combines 104 short excerpts from his classic novels with Scripture and new devotional thoughts to create meaningful readings for both longtime Dickens fans and Christian readers who are meeting Oliver Twist for the first time.

This title joins A Jane Austen Devotional as part of the new Devotional Classics series and includes excerpts from Dickens' Great Expectations, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781400319725

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A CHARLES DICKENS

DEVOTIONAL

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COMPILED and WRITTEN by

JEAN FISCHER

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A Charles Dickens Devotional

© 2012 by Thomas Nelson®, Inc.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson®. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Created by MacKenzie Howard.

Cover design by Greg Jackson, Thinkpen Graphic Design.

Page design by Lori Lynch.

Project managed by Michelle Prater Burke.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture quotations are taken from: Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. KING JAMES VERSION (KJV). Holy Bible: New International Version® (NIV). © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (CEV). © 1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (NASB). © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION® (NIRV). Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica.

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THERE IS A WISDOM OF THE HEAD,

AND . . . THERE IS A WISDOM

OF THE HEART.

—Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Thomas Nelson gratefully acknowledges the use of Charles Dickens’s works, all of which reside in the public domain. In reproducing excerpts for each entry, we have made every attempt to respect the nineteenth-century language of the period in which the novels were written. For this reason, we have in most instances chosen to retain the original spelling, syntax, and grammatical construct except where the result proves distracting or otherwise prevents accurate interpretation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Introduction

Morning!

God’s Voice

The Earth

Concerning the Poor

About Grumbling

Order from Chaos

The Book of Proverbs

Christian Cleanliness

Fear and Misfortune

Rest

Great Expectations

Trust

New Believers

Regarding Words

On Peace

Childhood Innocence

Light of the World

On Communication

About Waiting

Anxiety!

Fire

Everlasting Hope

Facing Adversity

Regarding Stars

Hospitality

Managing Anger

Tears

Finding God

Patience in Hope

Joy!

Sacrifice

Our Father

Balance

What Is Love?

The Needy

Concerning Shyness

Regret

Bad Company

Kind Words

Jesus

Worldliness

Mothers

Regarding Compassion

Forgiveness

The Good King

About Giving

Concerning Integrity

Real Love

Procrastination

Hard-Heartedness

About Friendship

Envy

Old Age

Regarding Contentment

On Parenting

Difficult People

Family Quarrels

Perfect Love

The Enemy

God’s Army

Dreams

One Family

Regarding Hands

Idolatry

Here and Now

Self-Confidence

Concerning Debt

Asking for Help

Heavenly Wisdom

About Perspective

Valleys

Giving Our Best

Toward Heaven

On Comfort

Lies

Regarding Work

Positive Thoughts

About Prayer

Mad World

Laughter

The Bible

Regarding Change

Service

About Money

Merciful God

Conceit

God’s Garden

Letting Go

Desires

Perseverance

Redemption

Love Your Neighbor

Humility

On Excess

About Individuality

Judging on Appearance

Strength in Adversity

Excellent Hope

A Christian Home

Fruit of the Spirit

Gossip

Knowing God

Honesty

Worship

A Biography of Charles Dickens

References

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INTRODUCTION

Charles Dickens is considered by many to be the grand master of Victorian English literature. Well known for his vibrant characters and themes of social injustice and moral decline, Dickens’s writing has weathered a sea of cultural changes in the nearly two hundred years since early publication. In that time, his novels have delighted many generations of readers.

With protagonists overcoming vain and worldly obstacles and villains who act outside the realm of Christian values, Dickens’s stories teach readers life lessons richly inlaid with the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.

Hidden like gems among the pages of his novels are numerous religious images and biblical references: in Great Expectations, Pip praying for the Lord to be merciful to Abel Magwitch, a sinner and formidable criminal; in Bleak House, the image of Christ stooped down, writing with his finger in the dust when they brought the sinful woman to him; in Little Dorrit, adoration of wealth described as the camel in the needle’s eye.

The goal of this devotional is to connect you with the spirit of Christ through the words of Charles Dickens. The influence of Dickens’s faith on his work is evident in a letter he wrote in 1870 (the same year he died): "I have always striven in my writings to express veneration for the life and lessons of our Saviour—because I feel it."

For each devotional entry, take a few moments to reflect, ponder, and allow the Dickensian excerpt and corresponding devotional to shape your thinking and influence your character. May this book award you a greater connection to the life and lessons of our Saviour, and may you feel it just as Dickens did.

In his final hours, Charles Dickens’s thoughts were on Christ and eternity: A brilliant morning shines on the old city, he wrote on his deathbed. Its antiquities and ruins are surpassingly beautiful . . . Changes of glorious light from moving boughs, songs of birds, scents from gardens, woods, and fields . . . penetrate into the Cathedral, subdue its earthy odour, and preach the Resurrection and the Life.

As you read A Charles Dickens Devotional, may your heart also turn toward Christ our Savior, the Resurrection and the Life.

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MORNING!

That punctual servant of all work, the sun, had just risen, and begun to strike a light on the morning of the thirteenth of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, when Mr. Samuel Pickwick burst like another sun from his slumbers, threw open his chamber window, and looked out upon the world beneath. Goswell Street was at his feet, Goswell Street was on his right hand—as far as the eye could reach, Goswell Street extended on his left; and the opposite side of Goswell Street was over the way. Such, thought Mr. Pickwick, are the narrow views of those philosophers who, content with examining the things that lie before them, look not to the truths which are hidden beyond. As well might I be content to gaze on Goswell Street for ever, without one effort to penetrate to the hidden countries which on every side surround it. And having given vent to this beautiful reflection, Mr. Pickwick proceeded to put himself into his clothes, and his clothes into his portmanteau. Great men are seldom over scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire; the operation of shaving, dressing, and coffee-imbibing was soon performed; and, in another hour, Mr. Pickwick, with his portmanteau in his hand, his telescope in his greatcoat pocket, and his note-book in his waistcoat, ready for the reception of any discoveries worthy of being noted down, had arrived at the coach-stand in St. Martin’s-le-Grand. Cab! said Mr. Pickwick.

—The Pickwick Papers

Samuel Pickwick, a retired businessman, met the new day with enthusiasm. He saw it with the potential of discovery and maybe even adventure. If Pickwick and his friends from the Pickwick Club loved anything at all, it was searching for adventure. Every morning held the prospect of something new, something exciting.

How should we meet each new day? Psalm 118:24 tells us, This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. We should greet each day expecting God’s kindness: Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). We should pray in the morning: But to You I have cried out, O LORD, and in the morning my prayer comes before You (Psalm 88:13). And we should view morning as a pleasant, sweet time: Truly the light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun (Ecclesiastes 11:7).

When you arise in the morning, do you throw open the window and look out at the world? Do you observe the same old things, or do you notice subtle changes, like buds opening on flowers, the scent of lilacs on the breeze, or the new song of a distant bird? This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice in His bountiful, beautiful gift.

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THAT THEY MAY KNOW FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN TO ITS SETTING THAT THERE IS NONE BESIDES ME. I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER.

Isaiah 45:6

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GOD’S VOICE

A few days have elapsed, and a stately ship is out at sea, spreading its white wings to the favouring wind.

Upon the deck, image to the roughest man on board of something that is graceful, beautiful, and harmless—something that it is good and pleasant to have there, and that should make the voyage prosperous—is Florence. It is night, and she and Walter sit alone, watching the solemn path of light upon the sea between them and the moon.

At length she cannot see it plainly, for the tears that fill her eyes; and then she lays her head down on his breast, and puts her arms around his neck, saying, Oh Walter, dearest love, I am so happy!

Her husband holds her to his heart, and they are very quiet, and the stately ship goes on serenely.

As I hear the sea, says Florence, and sit watching it, it brings so many days into my mind. It makes me think so much—

Of Paul, my love. I know it does.

Of Paul and Walter. And the voices in the waves are always whispering to Florence, in their ceaseless murmuring, of love—of love, eternal and illimitable, not bounded by the confines of this world, or by the end of time, but ranging still, beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the invisible country far away!

—Dombey and Son

Dickens’s love scenes are often wrought with emotion. This one follows Florence Dombey’s wedding to Walter Gay. In the last paragraph, Dickens writes about voices in the waves whispering to Florence. He describes them as reaching beyond this world, beyond the sky to the invisible country far away. Perhaps when Dickens wrote this, he imagined the voice of God.

In the New King James Version, God’s voice is described as a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). The New International Version translates this as a gentle whisper. In modern times we might recognize this whispering in our hearts as a conscience—the small voice inside us that leads us in the right way. Isaiah 30:21 says, Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ And in Hebrews 4:12 we discover that the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

When we hear our conscience speak to us, we should be careful to make certain that it is indeed God’s voice that we hear. God’s Word and prayer will help us to do this. God’s voice will never lead us astray, nor will it contradict anything in the Bible. Thus, the more time we spend intimately with the Lord in prayer and in quiet contemplation of His Word, the better we are able to recognize His voice when He speaks.

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MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, AND I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME.

John 10:27

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THE EARTH

You may seek in vain, now, for the spot on which these sisters lived, for their very names have passed away, and dusty antiquaries tell of them as of a fable. But they dwelt in an old wooden house—old even in those days—with overhanging gables and balconies of rudely-carved oak, which stood within a pleasant orchard, and was surrounded by a rough stone wall, whence a stout archer might have winged an arrow to St. Mary’s Abbey. The old abbey flourished then; and the five sisters, living on its fair domains, paid yearly dues to the black monks of St. Benedict, to which fraternity it belonged.

It was a bright and sunny morning in the pleasant time of summer, when one of those black monks emerged from the abbey portal, and bent his steps towards the house of the fair sisters. Heaven above was blue, and earth beneath was green; the river glistened like a path of diamonds in the sun; the birds poured forth their songs from the shady trees; the lark soared high above the waving corn; and the deep buzz of insects filled the air. Everything looked gay and smiling; but the holy man walked gloomily on, with his eyes bent upon the ground. The beauty of the earth is but a breath, and man is but a shadow. . . .

With eyes bent upon the ground, then, or only raised enough to prevent his stumbling over such obstacles as lay in his way, the religious man moved slowly forward.

—The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Charles Dickens is remembered for using descriptive language to create vivid images in his readers’ minds. Here, Dickens presents a vibrant picture contrasting the monk’s gloomy attitude with the beauty of earth. How often do we humans walk like this monk with eyes bent to the ground, oblivious to God’s magnificent creation?

Genesis 1 describes how God commanded the earth into existence. He said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. . . . Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees. . . . Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night (vv. 9, 11, 14 NIV). When God saw what He had done, He proclaimed it good.

Earth does not belong to us; it belongs to God. Psalm 24:1 reminds us, The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. Our appreciation of its natural beauty is a reflection of the Spirit of God that dwells in our hearts. The Bible says that when God created man and woman, He put them on earth to work it and care for it (Genesis 2:15). We are the earth’s stewards. As you care for the earth around you, take time to notice the beauty of creation and to praise its Creator.

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ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM NOTHING WAS MADE THAT WAS MADE.

John 1:3

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CONCERNING THE POOR

The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end: out of which the master, dressed in an apron . . . and assisted by one or two women, ladled the gruel at mealtimes. Of this festive composition each boy had one porringer, and no more—except on occasions of great public rejoicing, when he had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides.

The bowls never wanted washing. The boys polished them with their spoons till they shone again; and when they had performed this operation . . . they would sit staring at the copper, with such eager eyes, as if they could have devoured the very bricks of which it was composed . . . Oliver Twist . . . was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: . . .

Please, sir, I want some more.

The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.

What! said