"He Waits for You in Your Closet."
By James White
We have recently seen the above sentence somewhere, and it took possession not only of our thoughts but of our imagination, too. It is one of those happy sentences, which are not only true, and full of truth, but suggestive of truths; which lead the mind through a long vista of delightful subjects of contemplation. Who is waiting for us? It is he who said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." He is the one whose eyes were as flames of fire, and whose countenance was as the sun shining in his strength, at the very time that he addressed these words to the churches through the beloved disciple. He called himself the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He was with God, and equal to God, debased to the lowest, and raised up high above all things again, that he might fill all things. He is therefore justly named Wonderful. And high as he is, he is our brother, who, though on the throne, still feels for us as much as he did when in the lowest place, and when he suffered all that any of us can suffer. With all his brotherly kindness and sympathy, and in all the majesty of the King of kings, and Lord of lords, he waits for us, and invites us to him; nay, he even comes to us. What wonderful contrasts and conjunctions of characters and offices we see in him! Human and Divine! King, Brother, Governor of all worlds, and waiting in our retirement for the humblest of us! He is waiting for us. We are poor and worthless beings, not at all necessary to Him who is possessed of all things; but He descends to us. We are sinful and vile; but He waits to cleanse us. He orders the mean garment to be taken off, and clothes us as the prophet saw Joshua, the high priest, clothed in vision, with new raiment. He puts on us the fine linen, which is the righteousness of the saints—His righteousness, which he gives them. He entreats us to accept his offers. He does not forsake us, because, we are at first unwilling to hear Him. He never thought of treating us as we deserve, unless we should finally insist that we will not come to him. He is waiting for us. He does not make us one formal offer, and then close the door of hope on us forever. He does not cut us off from future favors, on our showing neglect or ingratitude, as an earthly benefactor would do. He waits to be gracious. He waits for us in our closets. Here we may have him to ourselves. When we have been separated a long time from a dear friend, who has at last returned to us, we have often had our intercourse with him interrupted by others, who also had claims to his notice, but Christ is equally and wholly with every one who goes into the closet to meet him. Let thousands go at once into as many closets, and address him in all the languages of the earth, or in no language but the groaning that cannot be uttered, and he will be as intimately with each one as if no other solicited his attention. He will hear us, in our closets, when we tell him our most secret thoughts. We may talk with him about affairs that we would not like to have any one beside him hear of. Our sorrows, that are connected with our sins, we may pour into his ear. When earthly friendships fail to satisfy our hearts, or friends betray us, we may always find him waiting in the closet ready to sympathise with us. Then how foolish we are to neglect the closet! A friend goes often to apartments where he knows that a dear friend awaits his coming. A miser often goes to his closet to turn over and admire his little gods. But the Christian often fails to visit his dearest friend. How foolish this conduct is. He cannot do without the blessings that Christ waits to bestow. He cannot keep his temper calm, his soul at peace, his heart in heaven, and his hands at work for the Lord, without going often to meet the friend that awaits him in the closet.—Pres. White.