HOW TO PROMOTE DEVOTEDNESS
HOW TO PROMOTE DEVOTEDNESS
The true way to promote devotedness is to seek and cultivate closer acquaintance with Himself, which leads always to practical separation from that which is unsuited to Him; and this is devotedness. The more you are with Christ, the stronger you become in heart and taste to refuse what is contrary to Him, and without making any plan, you find yourself retiring from old and cherished associations, and seeking and loving only [p. 319] those which connect you with Him. It is not then a surrender to obtain a certain gain, but a surrender to preserve the gain in its full value.
When nearness to Him is really known, and the soul has been transformed by it, the conversation of the world becomes intolerable; and in seeking and securing the better things, the surrender of everything which stands in the way, however great, becomes secondary.
If you subject yourself to the society of the world, when there is no positive call of duty, you suppress and blight divine growths in your soul; but if you seek and cherish nearness to the Lord, you will grow too big for your shell, and you will burst it ere long, and find the surrender a positive relief. It is better that the shell should be broken from the inside, rather than from the outside. As I feed on Christ, the inner man is renewed and strengthened, and all that hinders its expression is displaced. What a relief it is! What liberty the butterfly exhibits when it bursts from the chrysalis! Surely we ought even now to know that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3: 17).
May our gracious Lord lead you into simple nearness to Himself, and strengthen your heart to answer to the love of His heart for you.