March
16
Christ Himself, when He was here, never failed to
let people know that when they entered that door, or that straight and narrow
way, they were in for trouble. Now that may sound like a very terrible thing to
say, especially to you young Christians who are not far inside the door, but be
perfectly clear about it; the Lord Jesus never deceived anybody about this,
never at all. He let people know that to “follow Him,” as He put it at that
time, involved them in difficulty and suffering and persecution and trial and a
lifelong thing. There is a cost here, a great cost. And we shall discover that, while there are the compensations, for there are undoubtedly the compensations
in this life and the mighty compensations for eternity, this is a way which is
not easy for the natural man by any means. This work of the Holy Spirit is
drastic, exacting, and very trying to the flesh. Make no mistake about it; it
will take all the energy that the Holy Spirit Himself has to accomplish this
work. It really will. So the Lord Jesus has not left us in any doubt about this.
But note, and I am glad the Apostle Paul puts it
like this, because it is so true to experience, “The new man who is being renewed.”
Notice, first there was a precise and definite transaction, “Ye put off” and
“ye put on,” but now the work that is going on is not a single act of a single
moment and a single day, but it is something that is going on in us.
By T. Austin-Sparks from: God's Supreme
Interest in Man - Chapter 3
This photograph is from a Facebook page called Live Life in Color.
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