O my God! Thou hast redeemed me for Thyself, that Thou mightest have me
wholly as Thine own, possessing, filling my inmost being with Thy own
likeness, Thy perfect will, and the glory of Thy Holiness. And Thou
seekest to train me, in the power of a free and loving will, to take Thy
will and make it my own, that in the very centre of my being I may have
Thine own perfection dwelling in me. And in Thy words Thou revealest Thy
will, that as I accept and keep them I may master their Divine contents,
and will all that Thou willest.
O my God! let me live day by day in such fellowship with Thee, that I
may indeed in everything hear Thy voice, the living voice of the living
God speaking to me. Let the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Thy Holiness, be
to me Thy voice guiding me in the path of simple, childlike obedience. I
do bless Thee that I have seen that Christ, in whom I am holy, was the
obedient one, that in obedience He sanctified Himself to become my
sanctification, and that abiding in Him, Thy obedient, holy Child, is
abiding in Thy will as once done by Him, and now to be done by me. O my
God! I will indeed obey Thy will: make Thou me one of Thy holy nation, a
peculiar treasure above all people. Amen.
1. 'He became obedient unto death.' 'Though He was a Son, yet He
learned obedience by the things which He suffered.' 'I come to
do Thy will.' 'In which will we are sanctified.' Christ's
example teaches us that obedience is the only path to the
Holiness or the glory of God. Be this your consecration: a
surrender in everything to seek and do the will of God.
2. We are 'holy in Christ'--in this Christ who did the will of
God and was obedient to the death. In Him it is we are; in Him
we are holy. His obedience is the soil in which we are planted,
and must be rooted. 'It is my meat to do His will;' obedience
was the sustenance of His life; in doing God's will He drew
down Divine nourishment; it must be so with us too.
3. As you study what it is to be and abide in Christ, as you
rejoice you are in Him, always remember it is Christ who obeyed
in whom God has planted you.
4. If ever you feel perplexed about holiness, just yield yourself
again to do God's will, and go and do it. It is ours to obey,
it is God's to sanctify.
5. _Holy in Christ._ Christ sanctified Himself by obedience, by
doing the will of God, and in that will, as done by Him, we
have been sanctified. In accepting that will as done by Him, in
accepting Him, _I am holy_. In accepting that will of God, as
to be done by me, _I become holy_. I am in Him; in every act of
living obedience, I enter into living fellowship with Him, and
draw the power of His life into mine.
6. Obedience depends upon hearing the voice. Do not imagine you
know the will of God. Pray and wait for the inward teaching of
the Spirit.
Eighth Day.