The Seventh of January

CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL --- Colossians 3:11.

"Christ is all, and in all." --- Colossians 3:11.

For a believer to receive and know Christ as his All, is the only means to live truly a life of faith; and when he has done this, it will not be hard to resign all other things.

To talk much of Christ, and make frequent use of his name to one another, is commendable, if the heart goes along with the words; but to call upon God the Father with a filial confidence is also our duty, and does not contradict the apostle's meaning at all, for it is only through Christ we can do it; and, as he says himself, the Father and He are one.

Thou art my All, O gracious Lord!-- what then can I want? I desire no more than to be put always in mind by the animating voice of thy Spirit.

My Lord, my life, my love,
To thee, to thee I call;
I cannot live if thou remove,
For thou art all in all.

Thy shining grace can cheer
This dungeon where I dwell;
'Tis paradise when thou art here;
If thou depart, 'tis hell.

Nor earth, nor all the sky,
Can one delight afford;
No, not a drop of real joy,
Without thy presence, Lord.

To thee my spirits fly
With fulness of desire;
And yet how far from thee I lie!
Dear Jesus, raise me higher.