TRUE DESIRES
TRUE DESIRES
It is a great comfort to me that failure in the thing which I most desire is no proof that I do not truly and genuinely desire it; and that there is in me the nature that desires it. The failure is caused by the flesh, the evil will refusing to let me be the exponent personally of what in heart I seek; and you will find that though for the moment your acts may deny your purpose, yet that your purpose does not go with your acts, but condemns them.
I make a distinction between light and desire. Light is the reception of any truth, but desire is more; it is [p. 320] the heart set on maintaining it. Now circumstances test both. When it is only the former there is no power against a deliberate assault; one acts in nature, and the excuse is, that no other way was open. But with the latter, it is when the attack is open and palpable that he is victorious, though he often loses ground when he least expects it, and is, as we say, taken unawares. No open or deliberate attack could subdue Samson; his heart was right. Lot gave way before the first great attraction. The failure, contrary to your desire, only shows that you have not been broken enough; and therefore the breakdown occurs, in order to show you where your weak point is; and the truer your desire, the more will you watch and guard against it. It is the readiness and adroitness of your body (of which the tongue is the index), which proves that, like a horse well-mouthed, you are under complete control. If it be only light, and there be a departure, the conscience even will not be troubled, if there be a good excuse for the departure. When there is real love of the truth, it is quite different; one is always pained if one’s acts do not declare plainly the ruling desire of the heart. In the former case temptations are allowed to occur, in order to expose to oneself how little really the love of the truth possesses one; in the latter, to show one where the danger lies.
It is a wondrous and beautiful thing to see our bodies made to the accompaniments to the divine nature, as a harp to the voice - sanctified in spirit, soul, and body.