PRESS TOWARD THE END
The wisdom of the fathers
PRESS TOWARD THE END
"Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3.8)
Here is a traveller, He has launched out on a long journey. He comes to the first inn, and there he remains forever. His reason? He has been told that many travellers have come this way and have stayed AT THIS VERY INN. Even the master of the house dwelt here. Surely our traveller has taken leave of his senses to remain at the first inn for no more reason than this.
Oh soul! All that is wished for you is that you press toward the end. Take the shortest road, the easiest road. It has now been mapped out for you. Only remember this: Do not stop at the first stage.
Follow the counsel of Paul: Allow yourself to be led by the Spirit of God. (Romans 8.14) The Spirit will unerringly conduct you to the end purpose for which your soul was created. That end purpose is the enjoyment of God. Stop for a moment and just see the reasonableness of the path before you.
First, we all have to admit that God is the Supreme Good. Surely, then, the ultimate blessedness is union with Him. And every saint has glory IN Him, does he not? Yet the glory in each of us is different. Why? The glory differs according to the degree of that Christian's union with God.
As we have seen, the soul cannot attain union by effort or by activity or by its own power. This is because God alone communicates Himself to the soul of man... You can only be united to God in simplicity and passivity. Simple, in that God is all, and passive in that the human will is in accord with the divine will in all things...
(by "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" by Jeanne Guyon)