November 15
It is Twilight Where God is Not
In the Hour of Silence"And they have turned unto Me the back and not the face."
PERHAPS I too am guilty of this perversity.
Suppose that I lift and drink the cup of pleasure, I am turning my back on Him. I am preferring the "voluptuous garden roses" of this world to the "pure lilies of eternal peace." I am the boy Passion who will have his good things now, and not the boy Patience who tarries for the New Jerusalem.
Suppose that I exalt unduly my human loves, I am turning my back on Him. Mine is an affectionate nature, and indeed I do well to rejoice in the friends whose adoption I have tried. But I need the heavenly Father. I need the merciful and faithful High Priest. I need the abiding Holy Ghost.
Suppose that I am dazzled by the glitter of learning, I am turning my back on Him. It is right that I should reach out after truth that lies beyond me yet. It is right that I should be teachable to the end. I thank God for all the pathways He opens into wholesome and inspiring culture. But I am groping in the gloom till Jesus is my Sun.
Suppose that I feed myself on theological speculation, I am turning my back on Him. Theories about God will never save and sanctify me. There is no elixir of eternal life here. There is no pool with reeds and rushes. I must have God Himself. I must have Jesus, in His Person, His Cross, His Throne, His Spirit. Thou, O Christ, art all I want.
"I had my back to the Light," a saint has confessed in touching words, "and my face to the things enlightened; wherefore my face itself was not enlightened."