“Almost to the Excellence of the Angels” {a devotional}
The righteous also shall hold on his
way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Job
17:9.
To every man God has entrusted talents
for wise improvement. If rightly used, these talents will reflect
glory to the Giver. But the most precious gifts of God may be
perverted, and thus become a curse rather than a blessing....
The Lord has given man capacity for
continual improvement, and has granted him all possible aid in the
work. Through the provisions of divine grace, we may attain almost to
the excellence of the angels. What shall be said of those who, having
had many years of experience in the truth, and many precious
advantages for growth in grace, are yet inclined toward the world,
and find pleasure in its amusements and display? Instead of going on
from strength to strength, they are, little by little, departing from
God, and losing their spiritual life....
Talent can never take the place of
piety, nor can the applause of men recommend us to the favor of God.
What the majority of professed Christians need, is genuine
conversion. If the heart is right, the actions will be right. An
earthly, debasing influence marks the character and the life of those
whose hearts do not glow with the fire of true goodness. Too many
profess to be followers of Christ, and feel at liberty to follow
their own judgment, and indulge the desires of their own hearts. He
who would advance in the Christian life must put his own hands and
heart to the work. Friends may exhort and counsel, to urge him onward
and upward; Heaven may pour its choicest blessings upon him; he may
have all possible assistance on the right hand and on the left, and
yet all will be in vain, unless he shall put forth earnest effort to
help himself. He himself must engage in the warfare against sin and
Satan, or he will fail of everlasting life.
Pure religion leads its possessor ever
upward, inspiring him with noble purposes, teaching him propriety of
deportment, and imparting a becoming dignity to every action. ~Our High Calling, by E.G. White
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