THE HINDRANCE OF OLD TASTES AND ASSOCIATIONS

THE HINDRANCE OF OLD TASTES AND ASSOCIATIONS

It has occurred to me that I might through the Lord’s blessing be able to help you with reference to the subject of our conversation the other day. I think you have a very simple and earnest purpose to follow the Lord, and you seek to have more unbroken enjoyment in His presence. This is so true and real with you, that you think you would give up anything which would check or hinder it, were you convinced that it was a check or a hindrance. The fact is, in my judgment, that you, as is the case with many others, conclude that the true desire is enough, and you are disappointed that the desire is not fully gratified, because you are quite sure that it is of God. Of course the true desire is the chief thing; the heart cries out for the living God. This is the growth of the new being in you by the work of the Spirit, and were you without a will of your own and had no other tastes but the new ones, the presence of the new ones would be quite sufficient to ensure your being entirely led by them. But you are not, nor are any of us, without a will of your own and old tastes, and hence it is not enough to be assured that you have new tastes, or even to long for their gratification, you must with equal step deny and refuse the old tastes. If not, you grieve the Spirit and you open a door to the flesh; the barricade to keep it out is broken down, and ^[p. 178] if it gets in at all, it will, like water, run into the valleys, and the nicest parts are the most spoiled. As it is the most spiritual sentiment which feels most the incongruity of the carnal mind, so it is your most cherished delight in Christ which is most checked by intercourse with the worldly. The tender leaves or blossoms of a plant wither in uncongenial atmosphere, while the stem or root remains alive. The more spiritual you are, the more you must avoid the society of those who are not spiritual. The plant always assimilates its like, and though the most spiritual is the best qualified to encounter uncongenial people in order to serve them, it must always be from the pedestal of separation, while in every way stooping to serve. I believe you will find that the society of your relatives hinders and checks your progress, though you do not feel it at the time. None of us would be deceived if we felt hindrances at the time. To be deceived is to imagine that all is right at the very time that the harm is inflicted, and while feeling you are safe, you are overcome. The sum of the matter is this — Be zealous in your desires for the Lord’s presence, but be prepared also to refuse everything which would mar, hinder or be uncongenial to the Spirit of Christ. This watchfulness would not be necessary if you were not in the flesh. But as we are in the flesh, when the new, and as the new — Christ — is formed in us, so must the old — the flesh — be displaced, and this cannot be without breaking with tastes and associations once cultivated and acknowledged, however nice and good they may seem naturally.