He (God) complains much of our blindness, and cries often that we are to be pitied who content ourselves with so little. God, saith he, has infinite treasure to bestow, and we take up with a little sensible devotion which passes in a moment. Blind as we are, we hinder God and stop the current of His graces. But when He finds a soul penetrated with a lively faith, He pours into it His graces and favors plentifully; there they flow like a torrent, which, after being forcibly stopped against its ordinary course, when it has found a passage, spreads itself with force and abundance.
Yes we often stop this torrent, by the little value we set upon it. But let us stop it no more; let us enter into ourselves and break down the bank which hinders it. Let us make way for grace; let us redeem the lost time, for perhaps we have but little left; death follows us close, let us be well prepared for it; for we die but once, and a miscarriage there is irretrievable.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God
Oh please God, let me not be content with so little. Lord you are the treasure that I seek. Let me find myself in your presence. Teach me how to love you with all my heart, mind, and strength.
Sometimes it is so easy to forsake our first love. The greatest and what should be the most glorious of honors to obey, the command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength. How often do we loose God in the middle of religious repitition? How often do we go through the motions having not spent a moment with God, because we were so wrapped up in our lives, worries, fears, and events of the day. How often do I have a Bible study time that at the end I hurried and didn't allow myself to enjoy His presence?
It can be so easy to be so busy, to totally ignore God. Sometimes what I am doing looks totally like what I want to be doing, rather than what God wants me doing. Do I even ask anymore what He may want me to do? Or do I follow my routine. Has my relationship with God become stale?
Ignite the fire Lord. Kindle the fire that still smolders inside me. Lord, what is this passion, that feeling, when I am near to you? I have heard it called, the burning heart. It can be so hard to describe when I am in your presence. It feels so good. You have placed a treasure before us, to freely partake of. You have set the table for us to dine at in abundance. Time with you God, that is worth all. To love you and be loved by you. I was made to fall in love with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment