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Steps to Christ
be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:33
. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be
given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire
for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation
and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish
ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these
slavish bands must be broken. We cannot be half the Lord’s and half
the world’s. We are not God’s children unless we are such entirely.
There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon
their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure
salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of
Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that
which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion
is worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be
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so filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that
it will cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be
forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action. Those who feel
the constraining love of God, do not ask how little may be given to
meet the requirements of God; they do not ask for the lowest standard,
but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. With
earnest desire they yield all and manifest an interest proportionate to
the value of the object which they seek. A profession of Christ without
this deep love is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery.
Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice to yield all to Christ? Ask
yourself the question, “What has Christ given for me?” The Son of God
gave all—life and love and suffering—for our redemption. And can it
be that we, the unworthy objects of so great love, will withhold our
hearts from Him? Every moment of our lives we have been partakers
of the blessings of His grace, and for this very reason we cannot fully
realize the depths of ignorance and misery from which we have been
saved. Can we look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and yet
be willing to do despite to all His love and sacrifice? In view of the
infinite humiliation of the Lord of glory, shall we murmur because we
can enter into life only through conflict and self-abasement?
The inquiry of many a proud heart is, “Why need I go in penitence
and humiliation before I can have the assurance of my acceptance with
God?” I point you to Christ. He was sinless, and, more than this, He
was the Prince of heaven; but in man’s behalf He became sin for the
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