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The true test of the spiritual state of our
souls!
(From Octavius Winslow's, "The Desire to See Jesus")
Christ once seen by faith becomes an object
of ever growing desire. The believing soul is
never satisfied with the sight it has had of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul saw Jesus as none of the
others had seen Him; and yet this was still
his great desire, "that I may know Him."
Thus the desires of the renewed soul
after Christ are unlimited and insatiable,
and will never be satisfied until it beholds
Him in glory; nor even then!
Eternity will be occupied with Jesus; in contemplating
His person, in admiring His beauty, in beholding His
glory, in studying His work, and in sweetly chanting
his high praise.
But the Christ loving soul wants
to realize more of Jesus now;
more of His love and loveliness;
more of His grace and graciousness;
more of the fitness and completeness of His sacrifice;
more of His manifested presence and sacred communion.
There does not exist a stronger evidence of
our union with Christ, and of our interest in
His salvation than this one ardent desire of
the soul after Him.
Our views and thoughts and aspirations
concerning Jesus constitute the true
test of the spiritual state of our souls!
Let this, then, evidence the reality of your conversion,
and the healthfulness of your growing state; namely,
your longings after Christ, your deepening desire to
see more of Jesus, to have more real transaction with
Him by faith, closer fellowship with Him, and to exalt
Him more warmly and supremely upon the throne of
your love!
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