The Pursuit of God by Tozer - Reflections (15)

 

“Now he was a man who possessed nothing. He had concentrated his all in the person of his dear son, and God had taken it from him” (page 27).

 

“I have said that Abraham possessed nothing. Yet was not this poor man rich? Everything he had owned before was his still to enjoy…He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation” (page 27).

 

We are generally told that as long as our treasures are “good” that we can set our hearts upon them, that we can make them the center of our lives, that we can bring them into the shrine of our hearts. We make gods of our families, of our children, of our jobs, of our 401ks, of our houses and cars and boats and travel experiences and positions of influence and of hobbies. We can make idols of pretty much anything. Again, my idols are probably not your idols.

 

Consider that John concludes his first letter with, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

 

Congregations can have idols, denominations and parachurch ministries can have idols, colleges and seminaries can have idols – idols are insidious. I could write that idols are always knocking at the door of our hearts, but that is not true. More often than not idols are attempting to seduce us, they do not knock, they whisper, they coo, they offer comfort, they stroke our egos, they appeal to what we consider our better selves. They can be pragmatic and they can also be altruistic.

 

But the blessedness of possessing nothing is not really about idols, it is about loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; it is about being conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son, it is about being the sons and daughters of our Father in heaven (Romans 8:29; Matthew 5:43 – 48).

 

In offering Isaac, Abraham was being conformed to the image of our Father, who gave His Only Begotten Son. In Abraham we see our Father, and in Isaac we see the Son. We are called to both, we are called into the fellowship of the One who gives His Son, and into the fellowship of the One who gives Himself according to His Father’s will, for the life of the world.

 

There ought to be only One Light in our lives, One Light in our City, that of the Father and the Lamb (Revelation 21:23).

 

Paul wrote concerning himself and his coworkers that they were, “As poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

 

When we experience trials some of us may retain positions and possessions, and others may not. Whatever the case may be, we are called to trust our kind and loving heavenly Father.

 

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Philippians 4:12).

 

It seems to me that we tend to play the part of Peter in Matthew 16:21 – 23, we want others to avoid the Cross. In other words, rather than present the call of Jesus in Matthew 16:24 – 26 to take up the cross and deny ourselves, our churches and message are designed to have us avoid the Cross and self-denial and the offering of our Isaacs. We think we know better than Jesus Christ, for we think that if we proclaim what Jesus commands – the Cross and self-denial and faithful witnessing – that people won’t come to church and won’t come back; yet, it was the Gospel of Jesus and the call to discipleship that changed the world, not a message that catered to our whims and fancies and self-indulgence.

 

People are transformed by the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ, not by Christian entertainment, therapy, sociology, or an appeal to their superficial needs.

 

“After that bitter and blessed experience I think the words my and mine never again had the same meaning for Abraham. The sense of possession which they connote was gone from his heart. Things had been cast out forever. They had now become external to the man” (pages 27 – 28).

 

“We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed” (page 28).

 

Can we trust Jesus and our Father with our obedience?

 

Are there things or people in our hearts and souls upon which we have hung signs that say to God, “Hands off! Do not touch!”?