Citizens of Two Worlds

"We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:12)

Our trouble springs from the fact that we who follow Christ inhabit at once in two worlds - the spiritual and the natural. As children of Adam we live our lives on earth subject to the limitations of the flesh and the weaknesses and ills to which human nature is heir. Merely to live among men requires of us years of hard toil and much care and attention to the things of this world.

In sharp contrast to this is our life in the Spirit. There we enjoy another and higher kind of life - we are children of God; we possess heavenly status and enjoy intimate fellowship with Christ.

This tends to divide our total life into two departments. We come unconsciously to recognize two sets of actions (the sacred and the secular). But the sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament. Paul's exhortation to "do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31) is more than pious idealism. It opens before us the possibility of making every act of our lives contribute to the glory of God.

Christ will not use us to establish His kingdom in the world until He occupies the throne of our entire being and becomes the King of our affections, our motives, our will and all our heart.

~A. W. Tozer~

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Adore - A Precious Word

"Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people" (Isaiah 49:13)

Fascination with God must necessarily have an element of adoration. You may ask me for a definition of adoration in this context. I will say that when we adore God, all of the beautiful ingredients of worship are brought to white, incandescent heat with the fire of the Holy Spirit. To adore God means we love Him with all the powers within us. We love Him with fear and wonder and yearning and awe.

The admonition to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, ... and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37) can mean only one thing. It means to adore Him.

I use the word "adore" sparingly, for it is a precious word. I love babies and I love people, but I cannot say I adore them. Adoration I keep for the only One who deserves it. In no other presence and before no other being can I kneel in reverent fear and wonder and yearning and feel the sense of possessiveness that cries "Mine, mine!"

God's child wants nothing more than the opportunity to pour out his or her love at the Saviour's feet!

~A. W. Tozer~