When I sat down before the Bible this morning, I told God
that my greatest fear was His silence. Every day, I listen for a word from God
and dread the idea of not hearing it.
Most of the time, He speaks through His Word. Sometimes He
speaks through people or their writing. Today, He answered me within minutes of
my prayer with this quote from Tozer:
The first [principle and condition of divine
guidance] is a surrendered spirit. Next, there must be a readiness to obey. He
will not give us light unless we mean to follow it.
Of course, this is true. Walking with Jesus is something
like walking a dark path with a flashlight. I need to step into the light already
given before the light moves ahead to the next step after that. That is, Jesus
expects me to obey what I know. While there will always be somewhat of a gap
between knowing and doing, walking in the light speaks to the attitude of my heart.
In other words, I cannot study the Bible or have devotions
for any other reason than life-change. This means I cannot spend time listening
to God only so I will have an article to post on the Internet, or something
interesting to talk about with my Christian friends, or for any other reason
than to draw nearer to God and obey Him.
Jesus is the way to draw near to God. It does not happen
by what I do or don’t do. Knowing God is about knowing Jesus and having a
relationship with Him. He is the light, my light along the path of life:
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6–7)
As for the obedience part, that is also about having a
close relationship with Him. To know Him is to love Him, and loving Him is
expressed by obedience:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15–17)
From these verses, and from the experiences of life, I
know that I cannot keep the commandments of Jesus without the Helper, the Holy
Spirit. He feeds me truth and that truth sets me free from my sinful
selfishness. Without the indwelling of God’s Spirit, the path becomes
treacherous for I cannot see where I am going. There is no light unless I walk
in the light He gives.
^^^^^^^^^
Jesus, this is why I need to hear from You every day. You
are faithful to speak. If there is a problem, it obviously is not about You,
but about me. I need to stay close, keep short accounts regarding sin, listen
intently, and do whatever You ask. You know my heart. Keep it in tune with You
as You continue to shed light on the path ahead. Sometimes the way is easy, yet
not always. When my path is dim, without much light and rocky going, I’m
especially thankful for the help of the Holy Spirit and the light of Your Word —
to keep me moving forward.
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