Chapter 194—That Still, Small Voice
Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Hebrews 3:7, 8
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Conscience is the voice of God, heard amid the conflict of human
passions; when it is resisted, the Spirit of God is grieved.
Men have the power to quench the Spirit of God; the power of choosing
is left with them. They are allowed freedom of action. They may be obedient
through the name and grace of our Redeemer, or they may be disobedient,
and realize the consequences.
The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other
voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest
attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from God. We must
resist and conquer inclination, and obey the voice of conscience without
parleying or compromise, lest its promptings cease and will and impulse
control. The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His
Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings,
in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to His people. If we
wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and
we left in darkness....
The pleadings of the Spirit, neglected today because pleasure or
inclination leads in an opposite direction, may be powerless to convince,
or even impress, tomorrow. To improve the opportunities of the present,
with prompt and willing hearts, is the only way to grow in grace and the
knowledge of the truth. We should ever cherish a sense that, individually,
we are standing before the Lord of hosts; no word, no act, no thought, even,
should be indulged to offend the eye of the Eternal One.... If we would feel
that in every place we are the servants of the Most High, we would be more
circumspect; our whole life would possess to us a meaning and a sacredness
which earthly honors can never give.
The thoughts of the heart, the words of the lips, and every act of the life,
will make our character more worthy, if the presence of God is continually
felt. Let the language of the heart be: “Lo, God is here.” Then the life will
be pure, the character unspotted, the soul continually uplifted to the Lord.
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