My Utmost for His Highest, Oct 19

Donate The Unheeded Secret

My kingdom is not of this world. — John 18:36 The great enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ in the present day is the conception of practical work that has not come from the New Testament, but from the Systems of the world in which endless energy and activities are insisted upon, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;…for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you,” a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives in the shop window. It is the innermost of the innermost that reveals the power of the life. We have to get rid of the plague of the spirit of the religious age in which we live. In Our Lord’s life there was none of the press and rush of tremendous activity that we regard so highly, and the disciple is to be as His Master. The central thing about the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship to Himself, not public usefulness to men. It is not its practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College, its whole strength lies in the fact that here you are put into soak before God. You have no idea of where God is going to engineer your circumstances, no knowledge of what strain is going to be put on you either at home or abroad, and if you waste your time in over-active energies instead of getting into soak on the great fundamental truths of God’s Redemption, you will snap when the strain comes; but if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in God on the un-practical line, you will remain true to Him whatever happens.

...when I talk about "effort" toward seeking and obeying the Lord, it's not in contemplation of building things, becoming involved in various projects, or taking on whatsoever would seem to busy the hands as a service to God. But of reading His Word, spending time poring over the writing of those who have known Him deeply and dearly, listening to the insights and revelations He's given to others who have sought and been found by Him, praising Him in private and public worship, taking part in fellowship with others who seek Him and love Him, and spending time talking with Him in prayer. 

He leads to other things--to works. Even unbeknownst us, sometimes, perplexingly. 

But...our primary call is to love Him. So, if that's the first step in being obedient, everything else is dependent.