Christian's Secret of a Happy Life - Chapter 16 Chapter 16
I remember reading once somewhere this sentence, "Perfect obedience would beperfect happiness, if only we had perfect confidence in the power we wereobeying." I remember being struck with the saying, as the revelation of apossible, although hitherto undreamed-of way of happiness; and oftenafterwards, through all the lawlessness and wilfulness of my life, did thatsaying recur to me as the vision of a rest, and yet of a possible development,that would soothe and at the same time satisfy all my yearnings.Need I say that this rest has been revealed to me now, not as a vision, but asa reality; and that I have seen in the Lord Jesus, the Master to whom we mayall yield up our implicit obedience, and, taking His yoke upon us, may find ourperfect rest?
THE JOY OF OBEDIENCE You little know, dear hesitating soul, of thejoy you are missing. The Master has revealed Himself to you, and is calling foryour complete surrender, and you shrink and hesitate. A measure of surrenderyou are willing to make, and think indeed it is fit and proper you should. Butan utter abandonment, without any reserves, seems to you too much to be askedfor. You are afraid of it. It involves too much, you think, and is too great atask. To be measurably obedient you desire; to be perfectly obedient appallsyou.
And then, too, you see other souls who seem ableto walk with easy consciences, in a far wider path than that which appears tobe marked out for you, and you ask yourself why this need be. It seems strange,and perhaps hard to you, that you must do what they need not, and must leaveundone what they have liberty to do.
Ah! dear Christian, this very difference betweenyou is your privilege, though you do not yet know it. Your Lord says, "He thathath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he thatloveth Me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifestMyself to him." You have His commandments; those you envy, have them not. Youknow the mind of your Lord about many things, in which, as yet, they arewalking in darkness. Is not this a privilege? Is it a cause for regret thatyour soul is brought into such near and intimate relations with your Master,that He is able to tell you things which those who are further off may notknow? Do you not realize what a tender degree of intimacy is implied inthis?
There are many relations in life which requirefrom the different parties only very moderate degrees of devotion. We may havereally pleasant friendships with one another, and yet spend a large part of ourlives in separate interests, and widely differing pursuits. When together, wemay greatly enjoy one another's society, and find many congenial points; butseparation is not any especial distress to us, and other and more intimatefriendships do not interfere. There is not enough love between us, to give useither the right or the desire to enter into and share one another's mostprivate affairs. A certain degree of reserve and distance is the suitablething, we feel. But there are other relations in life where all this ischanged. The friendship becomes love. The two hearts give themselves to oneanother, to be no longer two but one. A union of souls takes place, which makesall that belongs to one the property of the other. Separate interests andseparate paths in life are no longer possible. Things which were lawful beforebecome unlawful now, because of the nearness of the tie that binds. The reserveand distance suitable to mere friendship becomes fatal in love. Love gives all,and must have all in return. The wishes of one become binding obligations tothe other, and the deepest desire of each heart is, that it may know everysecret wish or longing of the other, in order that it may fly on the wings ofthe wind to gratify it.
Do such as these chafe under this yoke which loveimposes? Do they envy the cool, calm, reasonable friendships they see aroundthem, and regret the nearness into which their souls are brought to theirbeloved one, because of the obligations it creates? Do they not rather glory inthese very obligations, and inwardly pity, with a tender yet exulting joy, thepoor far-off ones who dare not come so near? Is not every fresh revelation ofthe mind of one another a fresh delight and privilege, and is any path foundhard which their love compels them to travel?
Ah! dear souls, if you have ever known this evenfor a few hours in any earthly relation; if you have ever loved a fellow humanbeing enough to find sacrifice and service on their behalf a joy; if awhole-souled abandonment of your will to the will of another has ever gleamedacross you as a blessed and longed-for privilege, or as a sweet and preciousreality, then, by all the tender longing love of your heavenly Master, would Ientreat you to let it be so towards God!
He loves you with more than the love offriendship. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so does He rejoice overyou, and nothing but a full surrender will satisfy Him. He has given you all,and He asks for all in return. The slightest reserve will grieve Him to theheart. He spared not Himself, and how can you spare yourself? For your sake Hepoured out in a lavish abandonment all that He had, and for His sake you mustpour out all that you have without stint or measure.
Oh, be generous in your self-surrender! Meet Hismeasureless devotion for you, with a measureless devotion to Him. Be glad andeager to throw yourself headlong into His dear arms, and to hand over the reinsof government to Him. Whatever there is of you, let Him have it all. Give upforever everything that is separate from Him. Consent to resign from this timeforward all liberty of choice; and glory in the blessed nearness of union whichmakes this enthusiasm of devotedness not only possible but necessary. Have younever longed to lavish your love and attentions upon someone far off from youin position or circumstances, with whom you were not intimate enough for anycloser approach? Have you not felt a capacity for self-surrender anddevotedness, that has seemed to burn within you like a fire, and yet had noobject upon which it dared to lavish itself? Have not your hands been full ofalabaster boxes of ointment, very precious, which you have never been nearenough to any heart to pour out? If, then, you are hearing the sweet voice ofyour Lord calling you into a place of nearness to Himself, which will require aseparation from all else, and which will make this enthusiasm of devotednessnot only possible, but necessary will you shrink or hesitate? Will you think ithard that He reveals to you more of His mind than He does to others, and thatHe will not allow you to be happy in anything which separates you from Himself?Do you want to go where He cannot go with you, or to have pursuits which Hecannot share?
No! no, a thousand times, no! You will spring outto meet His dear will with an eager joy. Even His slightest wish will become abinding law to you, which it would fairly break your heart to disobey. You willglory in the very narrowness of the path He marks out for you, and will pitywith an infinite pity the poor far-off ones who have missed this precious joy.The obligations of love will be to you its sweetest privileges; and the rightyou have acquired to lavish the uttermost abandonment of all that you have uponyour Lord, will seem to lift you into a region of unspeakable glory. Theperfect happiness of perfect obedience will dawn upon your soul, and you willbegin to know something of what Jesus meant when He said, "I delight to do thywill, O my God."
And do you think the joy in this will be all onyour side? Has the Lord no joy in those who have thus surrendered themselves toHim, and who love to obey Him? Ah, my friends, we are not fit to speak of thisbut surely the Scriptures reveal to us glimpses of the delight, thesatisfaction, the joy our Lord has in us, that ravish the soul with theirmarvellous suggestions of blessedness. That we should need Him, is easy tocomprehend; that He should need us, seems incomprehensible. That our desireshould be towards Him, is a matter of course; but that His desire should betowards us, passes the bounds of human belief. And yet, over and over He saysit, and what can we do but believe Him? He has made our hearts capable of thissupreme, overmastering affection, and has offered Himself as the object of it.It is infinitely precious to Him, and He says, "He that loveth me shall beloved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."Continually at every heart He is knocking, and asking to be taken in as thesupreme object of love. "Wilt thou have me," He says to the believer, "to bethy Beloved? Wilt thou follow me into suffering and loneliness, and endurehardness for my sake, and ask for no reward but my smile of approval, and myword of praise? Wilt thou throw thyself with an utter abandonment into my will?Wilt thou give up to me the absolute control of thyself and all that thou art?Wilt thou be content with pleasing me and me only? May I have my way with theein all things? Wilt thou come into so close a union with me as to make aseparation from the world necessary? Wilt thou accept me for thy only Lord, andleave all others, to cleave only unto Me?"
In a thousand ways He makes this offer of onenesswith Himself to every believer. But all do not say "Yes," to Him. Other lovesand other interests seem to them too precious to be cast aside. They do notmiss of Heaven because of this. But they miss an unspeakable joy.
You, however, are not one of these. From the veryfirst your soul has cried out eagerly and gladly to all His offers, "Yes, Lord;yes!" You are more than ready to pour out upon Him all your richest treasuresof love and devotedness. You have brought to Him an enthusiasm ofself-surrender that perhaps may disturb and distress the more prudent andmoderate Christians around you. Your love makes necessary a separation from theworld, which a lower love cannot even conceive of. Sacrifices and services arepossible and sweet to you, which could not come into the grasp of a morehalf-hearted devotedness. The life upon which you have entered gives you theright to a lavish outpouring of your all upon your beloved One. Services, ofwhich more distant souls know nothing, become now your sweetest privilege. YourLord claims from you, because of your union with Him, far more than He claimsof them. What to them is lawful, love has made unlawful for you. To you He canmake known His secrets, and to you He looks for an instant response to everyrequirement of His love.
Oh, it is wonderful! the glorious, unspeakableprivilege upon which you have entered! How little it will matter to you if menshall hate you, or shall separate you from their company, and shall reproachyou and cast out your name as evil for His dear sake! You may well "rejoice inthat day and leap for joy"; for behold your reward is great in Heaven, and ifyou are a partaker of His suffering, you shall be also of His glory.
In you He is seeing of the travail of His soul,and is satisfied. Your love and devotedness are His precious reward for all Hehas done for you. It is unspeakably sweet to Him. Do not be afraid then to letyourself go in a heart-whole devotedness to your Lord, that can brook noreserves. Others may not approve, but He will, and that is enough. Do not stintor measure your obedience or your service. Let your heart and your hand be asfree to serve Him, as His heart and His hand were to serve you. Let Him haveall there is of you, body, soul, and spirit, time, talents, voice, everything.Lay your whole life open before Him that He may control it. Say to Him eachday, "Lord, how shall I regulate this day so as to please Thee? Where shall Igo? what shall I do? whom shall I visit? what shall I say?" Give your intellectup into His control and say, "Lord, tell me how to think so as to please Thee?"Give Him your reading, your pursuits, your friendships, and say, "Lord, give methe insight to judge concerning all these things with Thy wisdom." Do not letthere be a day nor an hour in which you are not intelligently doing His will,and following Him wholly. And this personal service to Him will give a halo toyour life, and gild the most monotonous existence with a heavenly glow.
Have you ever grieved that the romance of youthis so soon lost in the hard realities of the world? Bring God thus into yourlife and into all its details, and a far grander enthusiasm will thrill yoursoul than the brightest days of youth could ever know, and nothing will seemhard or stern again. The meanest life will be glorified by this. Often, as Ihave watched a poor woman at her wash-tub, and have thought of all thedisheartening accessories of such a life, and have been tempted to wonder whysuch lives need to be, there has come over me, with a thrill of joy, therecollection of this possible glorification of it, and I have said to myself,Even this life, lived in Christ, and with Christ, following Him whithersoeverHe may lead, would be filled with an enthusiasm that would make every hour ofit glorious. And I have gone on my way comforted to know that God's mostwondrous blessings thus lie in the way of the poorest and the meanest lives."For," says our Lord Himself, "whosoever," whether they be rich or poor, old oryoung, bond or free, "whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is mybrother, and my sister, and my mother."
Pause a moment over these simple yet amazingwords. His brother, and sister, and mother! What would we not have given tohave been one of these! Oh, let me entreat of you, beloved Christian, to come,taste and see for yourself how good the Lord is, and what wonderful things Hehas in store for those who "keep His commandments, and who do those things thatare pleasing in His sight."
"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearkendiligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all Hiscommandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set theeon high, above all nations of the earth; and all these blessings shall come onthee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thyGod.
"Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessedshalt thou be in the field.
"Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and thefruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, andthe flocks of thy sheep.
"Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
"Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, andblessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
"The Lord shall cause thine enemies that shallrise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out againstthee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
"The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee inthy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shallbless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
"The Lord shall establish thee an holy peopleunto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandmentsof the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways.
"And all people of the earth shall see that thouart called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee.
"And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods,in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the fruit of thyground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
"And the Lord shall make thee the head, and notthe tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thatthou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command theethis day, to observe and to do them."
For the Israelites this was outward and temporal,for us it is inward and spiritual; and, as such, infinitely more glorious. Mayour surrendered wills leap out to embrace it in all its fulness!