Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“The entrance of your words give light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
Psalm 119:130
When God communicates one of His thoughts to man, the hearts of all who are upright in heart rejoice and find rest. To hear from their heavenly Father, and thus to know Him more perfectly, is the desire of the upright; His word is the only answer to their deepest prayers. When God communicates one of His thoughts, those who truly love God refuse to have any thought of their own, at least for the moment. Their entire attention is fixed on taking in and digesting God’s holy, wonderful words. The wise are mesmerized by the wisdom of God; they hunger for the hidden truth that His thoughts can reveal, and when His thoughts come to them, those thoughts command all their attention; they become their entire world. To Jesus, the word of God was his necessary food (Jn. 4:32); he lived to commune with His heavenly Father, and he lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Jn. 6:57).
The godly are they who feel that there is nothing else to say after God has expressed one of His thoughts. His thoughts, to them, are perfect; His thoughts satisfy their souls completely because the godly thirst for the knowledge of the truth. To them, the coming of the word of God brings an end to their longing. God’s word is, as David said it was for him, “The rejoicing of their heart.”
Any thought which any person dares to express on a subject after God has communicated what He thinks about it is repugnant to the righteous. Human opinion about anything is, to them, an affront to God after He has condescended to reveal His thoughts on the matter. If God has spoken, the righteous conclude, what can any man have to say that is worth hearing?
The righteous feast on every thought that comes from the heart of God. Be wise, and do not interrupt their meal with one of your thoughts. While they are consuming God’s thoughts, they may not be able to refrain from expressing contempt for yours.