I find that reading some of the Christian writers from the 1700's helps me pull away from the mindset of my day and my culture and see more clearly errors in my thinking. I found William Law's words from chapter XI challenging and thought provoking: "For all the wants which disturb human life, which make us uneasy to ourselves, quarrelsome with others, and unthankful to God; which weary us in vain labors and foolish anxieties; which carry us from project to project, from place to place, in a poor pursuit of we know not what, are the wants which neither God, nor nature, nor reason, hath subjected us to, but are solely infused into us by pride, envy, ambition, and covetousness.
So far, therefore, as you reduce your desires to such things as nature and reason require; so far as you regulate all the motions of your heart by the strict rules of religion, so far you remove yourself from that infinity of wants and vexations which torment every heart that is left to itself."
What a descriptive phrase for our heart's desires when they are not surrendered to God: "infinity of wants". May we become more aware of our pride-driven pursuits and find true joy in pursuit of God's will in our lives.
Indescribable Gift
14 years ago