IF I am walking with my Lord, as the treasure and resource of my heart, how can I have any large or valued possessions down here? And, more than this, I do not want them, for He is both my treasure and resource. We often say, and I doubt not at times truly, that we enjoy Him as our treasure and resource; and yet the moment a slice of part of our possessions here is taken away from us, the poverty of our portion in Him is made evident; and you will find, as you go on, that God in His grace takes us at our word,—may I say His word? —in our souls; and He says to us, “You said your treasure and resource were in my Son; well, be it so. Then surrender every other treasure and resource, and prove the great unbounded excellence of this.” He only does it to make good in our souls the true desires of His Spirit in us. I am afraid (and yet not afraid) when I hear anyone, even in prayer, expressing more than he has come up to, because I know if it be sincere, even in intention, God must establish it with the edge of the sword, and the agony of the Cross; the Cross is not only taken up, but the agony of it is bearing it all the way through.
Cultivate and cherish high desires, but be assured the more genuine they are the more you will be broken, to make room for the manifestations of them in living power. By all and every means have light in the pitcher, but the light is useless till the pitcher be broken to pieces. May you and I submit to be broken, that the true happy desires, which we at times have loved to give expression to, may find no impediments in our mortal body to their full manifestation, to the glory of our common Lord.