Dear friends
Last night I came across this quote. It is so good I thought I might share it with you. It is from the pen of Isaac Ambrose (1604-1664) – please forgive the non-PC nature of the language.
“Only Christ is the whole of man’s happiness, the Sun to enlighten him, the Physician to heal him, the Wall of fire to defend him, the Friend to comfort him, the Pearl to enrich him, the Ark to support him, the Rock to sustain him under the heaviest pressures… As Christ is more excellent than all the world, so this sight transcends all other sights; it is the epitome of a Christian’s happiness, the quintessence of evangelical duties, looking unto Jesus.”
What is Ambrose getting at? What does it mean to “look unto Jesus” and how might you do it?
What he is writing about is “looking” with both mind and heart, gazing upon Christ within the pages of Scripture. Not only that we might see and learn more of Christ, but that this seeing might stir our love for him. He writes that this act of looking, therefore, includes the act of “knowing, considering, desiring, hoping, believing, loving, joying, enjoying of Jesus, and conforming [ourselves] to Jesus.”
So, when you pick up your bible to read, don’t just read, gaze upon Christ in Scripture. Look with both mind and heart, seeking not just to know more, but also to love and worship more. Ask yourself, how is the beauty of Christ seen in this passage? Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes that you might truly see and soften your heart that you might be enthralled with the beauty and loveliness of Christ.
This is “the quintessence of evangelical duties”, to gaze upon the “light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (II Corinthians 4.6 NIV11). Ambrose again, “I beseech thee, come warm thy heart at this blessed fire!”.
Cameron Munro
Pastor | Trinity Church Brighton
0432 578 460 | cameron.munro@trinity.church | Day Off Fridays