Above All Things, See to it That Your Souls Are Happy in the Lord!

“The welfare of our families, the prosperity of our business, our work and service for the Lord, may be considered the most important matters to be attended to; but, according to my judment, the most important point to be attended to is this:  Above all things, see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord.  Other things may press upon you; the Lord’s work even may have urgent claims upon your attention; but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek, above all other things, to have your souls truly happy in God Himself.  Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life.  This has been my firm and settled conviction for the last [35] years … The secret of all true effectual service is–joy in God, and having experimental [i.e. experiential] acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.

But in what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul?  How shall we learn to enjoy God?  How obtain such an all-sufficient soul-satisfying portion in Him as shall enable us to let go the things of this world as vain and worthless in comparison?  I answer, this happiness is to be obtained through the study of the Holy Scriptures.  God has therein revealed Himself unto us in the face of Jesus Christ.

In the Scriptures, by the power of the Holy Ghost, He makes Himself known unto our souls.  Remember, it is not a god of our own thoughts or our own imaginations that we need to be acquainted with; but the God of the Bible, our Father, who has given the blessed Jesus to die for us.  Him should we seek to intimately know, according to the revelation He has made of Himself in His own most precious Word.”

George Muller’s writing in “The Secret of Effectual Service to God” (an address in the book, Jehovah Magnified) was food for my soul this morning.  There are so many things that cry out for my attention each and every day.  Many of these are joys and responsibilities that God not only wants me to engage in but even commands me to be fully engaged in–such as my family and ministry.

But, how do I fully and joyfully engage in these responsibilities in a way that brings the most glory to Jesus (Col. 3:23-24) and also the most happiness to myself and others (Psalm 100:2)?  As Muller exhorted, by above all things, seeing that my soul is happy in the Lord–which will happen through seeking His face in His Word.

Jehovah Magnified: Addresses, which includes the address: “The Secret of Effectual Service to God” quoted above, is available free the entire month of September, 2013 from Logos Bible Software.