Loving Jesus Above All Things
BLESSED is he who appreciates what it is to love Jesus and who
despises himself for the sake of Jesus. Give up all other love for
His, since He wishes to be loved alone above all things.
Affection for creatures is deceitful and inconstant, but the
love of Jesus is true and enduring. He who clings to a creature will
fall with its frailty, but he who gives himself to Jesus will ever be
strengthened.
Love Him, then; keep Him as a friend. He will not leave you as
others do, or let you suffer lasting death. Sometime, whether you will
or not, you will have to part with everything. Cling, therefore, to
Jesus in life and death; trust yourself to the glory of Him who alone
can help you when all others fail.
Your Beloved is such that He will not accept what belongs to
another -- He wants your heart for Himself alone, to be enthroned
therein as King in His own right. If you but knew how to free yourself
entirely from all creatures, Jesus would gladly dwell within you.
You will find, apart from Him, that nearly all the trust you
place in men is a total loss. Therefore, neither confide in nor depend
upon a wind-shaken reed, for "all flesh is grass"[12] and all its
glory, like the flower of grass, will fade away.
You will quickly be deceived if you look only to the outward
appearance of men, and you will often be disappointed if you seek
comfort and gain in them. If, however, you seek Jesus in all things,
you will surely find Him. Likewise, if you seek yourself, you will
find yourself -- to your own ruin. For the man who does not seek Jesus
does himself much greater harm than the whole world and all his
enemies could ever do. |
Of loving Jesus above all things
Blessed is he who understandeth what it is to
love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus' sake. He must give up
all that he loveth for his Beloved, for Jesus will be loved alone
above all things. The love of created things is deceiving and
unstable, but the love of Jesus is faithful and lasting. He who
cleaveth to created things will fall with their slipperiness; but he
who embraceth Jesus will stand upright for ever. Love Him and hold
Him for thy friend, for He will not forsake thee when all depart from
thee, nor will he suffer thee to perish at the last. Thou must one
day be separated from all, whether thou wilt or wilt not.
2. Cleave thou to Jesus in life and death, and
commit thyself unto His faithfulness, who, when all men fail thee, is
alone able to help thee. Thy Beloved is such, by nature, that He will
suffer no rival, but alone will possess thy heart, and as a king will
sit upon His own throne. If thou wouldst learn to put away from thee
every created thing, Jesus would freely take up His abode with thee.
Thou wilt find all trust little better than lost which thou hast
placed in men, and not in Jesus. Trust not nor lean upon a reed
shaken with the wind, because all flesh is grass, and the goodliness
thereof falleth as the flower of the field.(1)
3. Thou wilt be quickly deceived if thou lookest
only upon the outward appearance of men, for if thou seekest thy
comfort and profit in others, thou shalt too often experience loss.
If thou seekest Jesus in all things thou shalt verily find Jesus, but
if thou seekest thyself thou shalt also find thyself, but to thine own
hurt. For if a man seeketh not Jesus he is more hurtful to himself
than all the world and all his adversaries. |