The Upward Look

Let God's Spirit Do the Fashioning, September 29

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Romans 6:13. UL 286.1

The Lord desires His chosen servants to learn how to blend together. A decided influence for good is to be brought to bear on the inhabitants of the world. However diverse the talents of His workers, these workers are to labor in unity, all revealing kindness and love. By different gifts the truth is to be proclaimed, all the gifts controlled by the same Spirit.... UL 286.2

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This is a prescription for the healing of all spiritual, mental, and physical ills. It is Christ's gift to those who seek Him in sincerity and truth. He is the Mighty Healer. Then comes another invitation. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (verses 29, 30). Wearing Christ's yoke, and learning of Him the lesson of meekness and lowliness, we find rest in faith and confidence and trust. We find that Christ's yoke is easy and His burden light. UL 286.3

Let those who bear responsibilities remember that it is the Holy Spirit who is to do the fashioning. It is the Lord who controls. We are not to try to mold according to our own ideas those for whom we work. We are to let Christ do the molding. He follows no human pattern. He works according to His own mind and spirit. UL 286.4

It is man's work to reveal to the world that which Christ has placed in his heart. Through His grace man becomes a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The higher powers of the one who receives Christ are strengthened and ennobled. He receives a fitness for God's service.... UL 286.5

He who was once the covering cherub, whose work it was to hide from the heavenly intelligences the glory of God, perverted his intellect, and divorced himself from God. If a being so exalted could fall so low as to become the author of sin, let not man boast, but learn to wear gracefully the yoke of Christ, revealing His meekness and lowliness, believing on Him, cooperating with Him. “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:20).—Letter 197, September 29, 1901, to Elder and Mrs. S. N. Haskell. UL 286.6