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Steps to Christ
in Him—by giving and taking. You are to give all,—your heart, your
will, your service,—give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements;
and you must take all,—Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in
your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting
helper,—to give you power to obey.
Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very
first work. Let your prayer be, “Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I
lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with
me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.” This is a daily matter.
Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all
your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence
shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the
hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after
the life of Christ.
A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of
feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. Your hope is
not in yourself; it is in Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength,
your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His enduring might. So
you are not to look to yourself, not to let the mind dwell upon self, but
look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the
perfection, of His character. Christ in His self-denial, Christ in His
humiliation, Christ in His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless
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love—this is the subject for the soul’s contemplation. It is by loving
Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that you are to be
transformed into His likeness.
Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” These words convey the idea of rest,
stability, confidence. Again He invites,“Come unto Me, ... and I will
give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
. The words of the psalmist express the
same thought: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” And
Isaiah gives the assurance, “In quietness and in confidence shall be
your strength.”
Psalm 37:7
;
Isaiah 30:15
. This rest is not found in
inactivity; for in the Saviour’s invitation the promise of rest is united
with the call to labor: “Take My yoke upon you: ... and ye shall find
rest.”
Matthew 11:29
. The heart that rests most fully upon Christ will
be most earnest and active in labor for Him.
When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ,
the source of strength and life. Hence it is Satan’s constant effort to
keep the attention diverted from the Saviour and thus prevent the union