“God loves purity
in His children so much that He will rub as hard as He has to in order to get
out the dirt ingrained in our natures.
In all His
providences God is at work. "All things work together for good to them
that love GodRomans 8:28.. As God uses all seasons of the year for the
harvest-- the ice and cold of winter as well as the heat of summer-- so He uses
both good and bad, pleasing and unpleasing providences, for promoting holiness.
Winter providences kill the weeds of lust and summer providences ripen the
fruits of righteousness.
Even when God
afflicts it is for our good, to make us partakers of His holiness. Bernard has
compared afflictions to a sharp, scratching burr called a teasel, which was
used to make cloth more pure and fine. And God loves purity in His children so
much that He will rub as hard as He has to in order to get out the dirt
ingrained in our natures; He would rather see a hole than a spot in His child's
garment.
But sometimes
God's sovereign direction is more gentle, and when He lets His people sit under
the sunny bank of comfort, sheltered from the cold gusts of affliction, it is
to draw forth the sap of grace and hasten their growth in holiness. Paul
understood this when he urged the Roman saints "by the mercies of
God" to present their bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God" Romans 12:1. He implied that God expects a reasonable return on
the mercies, mercies which have all come from Him.
When the farmer
lays his compost on the ground, he intends to receive it again at harvest in a
fuller crop; and so does God, by His mercies. Thus He firmly indicted Israel
for her unthankfulness: "She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine,
and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal"
Hosea 2:8. God was angry because Israel embraced adultery at His expense.
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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