The great
enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no
basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work
insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The
emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not
come with observation … For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke
17:20–21). It is a hidden,
obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others,
while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s
life. We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in
which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the
rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple
is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a
personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the
practical activity that is the strength of your daily life—its entire strength
lies in the fact that you are to be immersed in the truths of God to soak in
them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your
future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be
placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in over
activity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s
redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this
time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in
Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him
whatever happens.
We must get
rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our
Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous
activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His
Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal
relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
