Ran across this in my reading this morning. Great stuff!
“Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote satisfaction. We are not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes a long time without the experience of heart warming will soon find himself to be tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that is craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual one … The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of the Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers.” Maurice Roberts, quoted in Instructing a Child’s Heart, from The Thought of God.
He says the same things as Thomas Chalmers in The Expulsive Power of a Greater Affection, but from a different angle. Chalmers puts it in terms of sanctification- how we put our sinful desires to death. Roberts puts it in terms of avoiding spiritual declension and danger. One for growing in Christ, the other for maintaining spiritual vitality. If we are not often pursuing our satisfaction, delight, in Christ, we will be in danger of seeking it in earthly things.
Think for a moment of how pervasive it is. Many church-goers don’t really have a vital relationship with Christ. It is more pragmatic than dynamic. So they find themselves drinking from the cesspools of society- wrapped up in the pursuit of wealth, sensuality, power, entertainment etc.
Cavman Considers 