THE POWER OF A WILLING MIND.
By W. S. Sadler
“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2 Cor. 8: 12. What does “a willing mind” mean? All these years you have struggled; you have prayed; you have purposed in your heart and have said you would never do that wicked thing again; by the help of God, you have vowed you would not do it again; yet on the morrow you found yourself doing that very thing. You have tried every way in the world to overcome it, but the one way that God said was sure to succeed—just being willing to allow Him to overcome it for you. This is where we so often make a mistake. We are willing to overcome our defects, but we must be willing to have God do the thing for us. When you try, you are sure to fail; but if you trust, you are sure to succeed. If you have a willing mind, it is accepted according to what “a man hath.” If you have a willing mind, it is accepted according to that willing mind; it is accepted on the ground of, and because of, the life and death of Christ, and not according to the power you have to overcome your sins. God says to the struggling soul: If you have a willing mind, I will accept that as the whole thing. Just be like a little child that will do anything it is told to do. Unless we become as little children, we shall in no wise inherit the kingdom. We are to do just what God tells them to do. I am to believe that a willing mind is accepted. If I do not believe that, I shall go about trying to do something else that will make it acceptable. So when it seems to us that the willing mind is not enough, the one thing we have to do is to reckon that it is enough, because God says so. We have had so much trouble about this question because we have been trying to see something which would, in our eyes, seem to be acceptable, not taking the willingness of our mind as being enough. Then how can we ever succeed in overcoming our sins, when in every effort we make to overcome them we commit sin? No wonder when we tried for a month or a year to lead a Christian life, in that way, we became discouraged, and finally were tempted, some of us, to give it up. Have we any reason to doubt God? Then when God says that a willing mind is acceptable, is not that sufficient? Why not believe that it is so? There is nothing more important than this reckoning what God says as being so, even if we do not see it. God said to Abraham, You are the father of many nations. And Abraham went about telling everybody he was the father of many nations. Probably the people called him foolish, and made fun of him. They would say, “You are not the father of one child, to say nothing about many nations.” We shall never exactly understand just how a willing mind can save a man from sin; for that is the mystery of godliness. But it is a blessed thing to know that it does it. If you could really see the thing, you would not have to reckon it, and so God would not ask you to reckon it. The very fact that God asks you to reckon it is evidence that you will not be able exactly to see it. It is of no use to look for a thing that God asks you to reckon. If you wish to see yourself defeated and overcome in the battle with sin, look to yourself; but if you wish to see yourself in God’s plan, triumphant over the enemy’s devices, look to Jesus. By looking at Him, we become changed; and some day we shall be like Him. Not until the resurrection morning shall we be able to see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and feel with our hands,—not till then shall we be able to see things as they are. The great mistake we make is that we reckon for a while, and then say: “I guess it is about time I saw something.” You will have to go right on reckoning, as Abraham did. The things we reckon are infinite and invisible, and the finite eye can never fully grasp them, and the sinful heart can never fully understand them. Now it is your privilege to begin to reckon yourselves triumphant over sin and selfishness, and to continue to reckon it, in spite of all appearances, until the final day. Don’t give it up. When the day gets dark, reckon that the day is light. When the burden seems heavy, reckon that it is light; because He said so. Matt. 11: 30. When the trial becomes severe, and the temptation fierce, reckon that nothing will come but what you are able to bear, because the Word says so. 1 Cor. 10: 13. When a thing is so, and God has said so, there is every reason in the world to reckon that thing as so. The more of the character of Christ we get, the worse our own character appears. One evil trait in your character, as you get nearer and nearer God, will look more hideous and sinful than all your heart full of sin did when you were first converted. Do not be discouraged by the fact that you seem worse and worse. Look to Jesus, reckon yourself in Him, and you will find yourself growing more and more like Him, loving Him more and more each day, becoming more and more willing to sacrifice for His truth. The storm is about to break upon us, and the only chart and compass that will serve us is that of truth. Let us be able to believe God. When He speaks, let us say, Amen.