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:
Every soul that loves God as He deserves to be loved, loves whatever God says or does. This is the wisdom that we want, the wisdom not only to feel love for our Creator but to have the knowledge to express that love as we should.
I am persuaded to believe that millions have a real love for God in their hearts, and yet, when His doctrines are taught or when His power is demonstrated, they draw back as if something evil has happened. That is not the way to love God as He ought to be loved. I would venture to say that we all have been guilty of being that foolish and blind and of acting that way toward our heavenly Father at some point in our lives. Along the way, there have undoubtedly been occasions in each of our lives (I know this is true for me), in which we have condemned what was holy and clung to what was not, “thinking to do God a service” as Jesus said. In other words, all of us have been ignorant about the God we longed to serve.
But God is good, and He is faithful. To those who diligently seek the truth, His truth is given. I know this is true for me, and I praise God for His boundless mercies toward us all.
Perhaps the chief value of knowing the truth is that it shows us how to love God (as well as how to love our neighbor). The truth rescues us from clinging to something that God hates, and the truth enables us to receive what is truly from God instead of rejecting it. In short, the truth makes us able to love God as He deserves to be loved. It keeps us from calling good evil and from calling evil good. And that is loving God the right way.
Wise men pray that God will rescue them from their ignorance of Him so that they might express the love they have for God as it should be expressed. They are not content with being uncertain as to how best to serve their Creator; their love for Him is such that they have to know what is right, and they search until they find the answer. We cannot love God as we should until He shows us how to love Him. And since the only right way to love Him is “in spirit and in truth”, wise men seek the Spirit and the truth that is in it.