Redemption is not a strange work which God for a moment turned aside to
do; rather it is His same work performed in a new field, the field of human
catastrophe. The regeneration of a believing soul is but a recapitulation of all
His work done from the moment of creation. It is hard to miss the parallel
between generation as described in the Old Testament and regeneration as
described in the New. How, for instance, could the condition of a lost soul
better be described than by the words, “without form, and void” with darkness
“upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2)? And how could the strong yearnings
of God’s heart over that lost soul be more perfectly expressed than by saying
that “the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters” (see 1:2)? And
from what source could light come to that sin-shrouded soul had God not said,
“Let there be light” (1:3)? At His word the light breaks and the lost man arises
to drink of eternal life and follow the Light of the World. As order and
fruitfulness came next to that ancient creation, so moral order and spiritual
fruit follow next in human experience. And we know that God is the same and
His years fail not. He will always act like Himself wherever He is found at
work and whatever work He is doing.

FEBRUARY 6

TRUTH IS A PERSON

Then said Jesus…And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31–32
Let me say boldly that it is not the difficulty of discovering truth, but the
unwillingness to obey it, that makes it so rare among men.
Our Lord said, “I am…the Truth” (John 14:6). And again He said, “The Son
of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Truth,
therefore, is not hard to find for the very reason that it is seeking us!
So we learn that Truth is not a thing for which we must search, but a Person to
whom we must hearken! In the New Testament, multitudes came to Jesus for
physical help, but only rarely did one seek Him out to learn the Truth. The whole
picture in the Gospels is one of a seeking Savior, not one of seeking men.
The Truth was hunting for those who would receive it, and relatively few did,
for “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
Thank You for this truth, Lord, that You came “to seek and to save that which
was lost.” I don’t want to keep this truth tucked in my back pocket. Give me an
opportunity to share Your good news with someone today.

Whatever else it embraces, true Christian experience must always include a
genuine encounter with God. Without this, religion is but a shadow, a reflection
of reality, a cheap copy of an original once enjoyed by someone else of whom
we have heard. It cannot but be a major tragedy in the life of any man to live in
a church from childhood to old age and know nothing more real than some
synthetic god compounded of theology and logic, but having no eyes to see, no
ears to hear and no heart to love.