February 27, 2007

• At the beginning of our Christian life we are concerned with our doing, not our being; we are distressed rather by what we have done that by what we are. We think that if only we could rectify certain things we should be good Christians, and we set out therefore to change our actions. But the result is not what we expected. We discover to our dismay that it is something more than just a case of trouble on the outside- that there is in fact more serious trouble on the inside. We try to please the Lord, but find something within that does not want to please him. We try to be humble, but there is something in our very being that refuses to be humble. We try to be loving, but inside we feel most unloving. We smile and try to look very gracious, but inwardly we feel decidedly ungracious. The more we try to rectify matters on the outside, the more we realize how deep-seated is the trouble. Then we come to the Lord and say, "Lord, I see it now! Not only what I have done is wrong; I am wrong."  -Watchman Nee The Normal Christian Life

   

  How deep do the cuts run? This is how deep the healing must run, and further still until the whole being is made new.

  • 9:01 pm
  • 1 Comment