One of the most delightful books I have read was Surprised by Joy in which the brilliant Cambridge scholar C. S. Lewis tells how the “Hound of Heaven” tracked him down and brought him to his knees to surrender to Jesus Christ.
“I was going up Headington Hill on top of a bus. Without words and (I think) almost without images, a fact about myself was somehow presented to me. I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shifting shutting something out. Or, if you like, that I was wearing some stiff clothing, like corsets, or even a suit of armor, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being there and then given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armor or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as a duty; no threat or promise was attached to either, though I knew that to open the door or to take off the corset meant the incalculable. The choice appeared to be momentous but I was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desire or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say, ‘I chose, yet it did not really seem possible to do the opposite.’’
A short time later in his room at Magdalene College in Cambridge, England, he made a final personal commitment to Jesus Christ. “In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed: perhaps that night the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England” (Surprised by Joy, pp. 224, 228-29).
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
Jesus used a strong word for “satisfied” meaning “completely satisfied,” like when feeding cattle are satisfied after grazing in a beautiful lush meadow.
Do you have that satisfaction that comes from an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
It is the result of a spiritual hunger and thirst that only God can satisfy when we submit to Him.
Do you carry a heavy burden that weighs you down? Have you grown weary fighting with God? He is ready to give you His perfect rest if you will come to Him and yoke up with Him. When you submit to Jesus Christ you find rest for your soul as Lewis did.
Are you weighed down by a heavy load of anxiety? Christ invites you to humble yourself “under the mighty hand of God . . . casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
There is no greater spiritual satisfaction, inner peace and joy than that which is found in an intimate, personal love relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Have you entered into that personal relationship with Him? Admit to Him your need and ask Him to be your Savior. “Lord, I confess to you my need for you to be my Savior. I am a rebel at heart and want you to forgive me of my wandering sinful ways and unbelief. I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me of all my sins. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead, and I want Him to be my Savior and Lord today.”
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Revelation 22:17). Will you come today and drink freely of the water of life and be satisfied?
Selah!
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