Quiet Talks on Following the ChristGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks on Following the Christ
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Christian life; Devotional literature
Then there's _the outer turn; He_ does that. He draws you to Himself, and
yet at the same time sends you away--no, not _from_ Him--_for_ Him, out to
the others He hungers after, even as after you. Up, in, out,--so He draws
and directs, up to Himself, in by contrast to one's self with a holding
hard to Him while looking within, then a sending out to the others. He
kindles a fire, He is a fire, drawing, burning, cleansing, warming, then
driving you forth, and doing all at the same time. Wondrous fine, this
fire of love--of His heart--of Himself. The common word for this is
"service." The word doesn't matter much. Service is a good word. But the
thing that comes seems so much more than this word seems to contain.
That hand that was pierced, which has been to you so tender and warm, and
in its clasp so expressive of this wondrous friendship--that hand now
leads you where you had not thought of going. _And you go_,--aghast almost
at first at the radical change in your carefully worked out plans, losing
your breath for a moment as you wonder what "they" _will_ think (though
"they" never will _understand_, unless--ah, yes, unless they see _Him_).
That hand reaches in where your life touches others, in the family, the
business circle, the social circle, and moulds you over anew in the old
relationships, not taking you away from them (though there may be some
partings), but making you a new presence in the midst of them.
That hand reaches into your pocket, and your safety-deposit box, in among
the title papers and securities, and shakes off the dust and rust, and
sends them out on an errand after the others. That fire--Himself--draws
all into the smelting-pot. Its alchemy transmutes possessions into lives,
redeemed, sweetened, Jesus-touched, Christ-renewed lives, made like
Himself. And the sweet music of their new lives comes up into _His_
gladdened ears, and a few of the strains come to cheer you. One may have
at first a strange feeling of bareness, for things that we've always clung
to as essential have gone out from us to others. But with the outgoing of
things has come an incoming of _Himself_, in greater abundance than we
dreamed possible. He, within, completely overbalances what He has sent out
from us into use. _He_--He is _everything_.
The usual word for all this is "service," a blessed word. Yet service
seems to suggest your doing something for Him among others. This is quite
different. It is _His_ doing something _with_ you for others. The thing
itself is so much more than any word. Christ is so much more than anything
you say about Him. The truth is always less than Himself. But one never
understands how much that means till he has seen Christ. Have _you_ seen
Christ? Then others shall see Him, too, in you, and through you.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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