I asked a student what three things he most wished. He said,
“Give me books, health, and quiet, and I care for nothing else.”
I asked a keen business man, and he said;
“Money, money, money.”
I next encountered one of the unemployed, and he said:
“Let me get bread for my wife and family.”
I asked the multitude thronging round me, and from many lips came a confused cry, in which I heard the words,
“Pleasure, wealth, success.”
At last I found one who was remarkable for the placid calm of his spirit and life. I asked him if there was anything he specially desired. He replied,
“I greatly desire these three things: “First, that I may be found in Christ (Phil. 3:99And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:9)); secondly, that I may be like Christ (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)); ‘thirdly, that I may be with Christ (Phil. 1:2323For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (Philippians 1:23)).”
ML 02/19/1939