A. W. Tozer is one of my all-time favorite authors. In The Pursuit of God, Tozer writes this:
As the sailor locates his position on the sea by “shooting” the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when and only when we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.
Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.
The flesh whimpers against the rigor of God’s inexorable sentence and begs like Agag for a little mercy, a little indulgence of its carnal ways. It is no use. We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is.
As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just what He is. Some of the most rapturous moments we know will be those we spend in reverent admiration of the Godhead. In those holy moments the very thought of change in Him will be too painful to endure.
So let us begin with God. Back of all, above all, before all is God; first in sequential order, above in rank and station, exalted in dignity and honor. As the self-existent One He gave being to all things, and all things exist out of Him and for Him. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Every soul belongs to God and exists by His pleasure. God being Who and What He is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full lordship on His part and complete submission on ours. We owe Him every honor that it is in our power to give Him. Our everlasting grief lies in giving Him anything less.
The pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing our total personality into conformity to His. And this not judicially, but actually. I do not here refer to the act of justification by faith in Christ. I speak of a voluntary exalting of God to His proper station over us and a willing surrender of our whole being to the place of worshipful submission which the Creator-creature circumstance makes proper.
The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God over all we step out of the world’s parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the world, and increasingly so as we make progress in the holy way. We shall acquire a new viewpoint; a new and different psychology will be formed within us; a new power will begin to surprise us by its upsurgings and its outgoings.
- The Pursuit of God, 101-102.
I began reading Tozer as a young Christian, and still today God speaks to me through his writing. Why? Because it is jam-packed with the truth of Scripture, and has such a big picture of God, and the nature of true discipleship. Tozer writes so clearly and he goes to the heart of walking with God.
I have a suggestion for you today. Turn off the television for one hour and read Tozer instead! You will not regret your choice. If you wish to read something from Tozer each day, subscribe to his daily devotions.
A couple of weeks ago one of the men in our 147 Men’s Ministry was telling me about a new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer he was reading and then a little later he recommended the book to me on Shelfari. I purchased a copy and downloaded it on my Kindle. My plan was to read it when I finished reading one of the many books I’m reading. However, when I started perusing through the book and reading the opening paragraphs I couldn’t stop reading! I highly recommend the biography of this great giant of the Christian faith. It is a great read and well worth your reading time.
