The compass-needle!
(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)
"The compass-needle may be shaken and agitated, but it never rests until it turns toward the pole!"
Thus our heart's affections, when once magnetized by the love of Christ, find no rest unless we turn to Him. The cares and labors of the day may carry our thoughts to other objects, even as a finger may turn the compass-needle to the east or west. But no sooner is the pressure removed, than our thoughts fly to the Well-beloved, just as the needle moves to its place.
We are unable to rest anywhere but in Jesus. The new birth has disqualified us for contentment with the world — and hence we have no choice but to find our all in Christ. Blessed necessity!
We are driven to Jesus, by an unrest which finds no remedy elsewhere!
We are drawn to Jesus, by an impulse which we have no desire to resist!
We mourn that we are subject to many deflections and disturbances; but you know, O Lord, that our inmost soul seeks after Yourself!
"As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God!" Psalm 42:1-2
"O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water!" Psalm 63:1