The words of Jeremiah in their relation to God are very appropriate for
men and women in whose hearts there is any longing after personal
Holiness. Look at them: 'Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall
search for Me with all your heart'. I like this word, because it turns
our minds to the true and only source of light and life and power. We
speak of seeking and getting the blessing; but, in reality, the object
is to find God, and that deliverance and blessing which can be secured
only from Him.
In our prayers and songs we express a great fact when we say, 'Thy
gifts, alas! cannot suffice unless Thyself be given'.
_Less than Thyself, Oh, do not give,
In might Thyself within me live,
Come, all Thou hast and art._
I want to make it plain that Holiness is an aspect of religion in which
the personality of God is very real. We must find God, and have Him
possessing and dwelling within us if we are to live the life and do the
work which Full Salvation implies. To realize this Divine union is as
essential as to experience the forgiveness of sin. We must know God as
well as worship Him, and the text I have read indicates to us that _the
discovery of a personal God belongs to the heart_: 'Ye shall seek Me,
and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart'.
God's power displayed in Nature may be perceived by the eye, the ear,
and other organs of the senses. On the lines of the Psalmist, we may
walk out at night, and consider the heavens the work of His fingers,
and exclaim, 'All Thy works praise Thee'; 'The heavens declare the
glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork'. The mind also
by reflection and deduction may clothe the Creator with attributes or
qualities of character, such as Almighty skill and benevolence; but
'spiritual things are spiritually discerned'; and it is only when God
reveals Himself to the heart that He is truly known as a personal
Father, Friend, and Saviour.
To the formal religionist or the casual dealer in pious phrases and
occasional prayers, these revelations do not come. It is when the heart
is set upon finding God that realizing faith makes--
_The clouds disperse, the shadows fly,
The invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye._
We urge men and women to thus seek God, because He alone can meet their
need; He alone can save after the fashion that they need a Saviour; He
alone, having forgiven, can break the power of sin, and cleanse from
natural impurity.
But the real trouble with some is that they do not seek Full Salvation
with that full purpose of heart which the prophet's words imply. In a
sense they want the blessing, but I fear they do not want it enough to
make them put their whole heart into seeking God's sanctifying power.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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