THE BLESSING OF THIS LIFE
If we receive the life of the Lord Jesus as the life of our body, our body will be strengthened by the Lord, and our spiritual life will be prosperous because of Him as well.
According to knowledge, we realized long ago that our body is for the Lord; yet because of our self-will, the Lord has been hindered from saturating us. Now we commit everything into His hand. We accept whatever treatment He bestows upon us. We present our bodies a living sacrifice and no longer dominate our own life and future. We now truly understand what it means to present our body to the Lord. What once caused us anxiety cannot shake us anymore. Although the enemy still tempts us to think that this is very risky and self-abasing, we are no longer as fearful as before. We know that we belong to the Lord completely. Nothing that He does not know or allow will befall us. Whatever attack comes upon us only shows that He has a purpose and that He will protect us. Our body is no longer ours. All of its nerves, cells, and organs are committed to Him. We are no longer our own masters; hence, we no longer bear the responsibility. If the weather suddenly changes, it is His business. If insomnia occurs unexpectedly at night, it will not make us anxious. No matter how much Satan abruptly attacks us, we will always remember that God is fighting and not us. When we behave in this way, God can live His life through our body. Others may be uneasy, frustrated, worried, or they may anxiously try to find a remedy when placed in the same condition; but we calmly live by God through faith because we know that we are living not by nice food, good sleep, or proper climate, but by the life of God. Consequently, nothing threatens us.
Now that the believers know God is for their body, all the riches of God are ready for them to apply. Whenever there is an urgent need, God always has the supply; therefore, they rest because of God’s provision. They do not ask for more than what God supplies; neither are they satisfied with less than what God has promised. Before God’s hour comes, they never use their own strength to help Him. They look to the Father’s care. Worldly people may be desperate and may run at such moments because of the suffering in their flesh, but a believer calmly looks to God’s riches and timing because of his union with Him. He does not put his life in his own hands. What peace this is!
In this situation a believer glorifies God in all things. No matter what happens, he considers it an opportunity to manifest God’s glory. He does not allow his own method to be employed while the praise that God deserves is forfeited. He sees the deliverance of God’s operating power as his opportunity to praise Him.
The goal of the believers should not be merely to receive God’s blessings. God Himself is more precious than all of His gifts. If healing does not magnify God Himself, the believer will not take healing. We are fallen already if we only covet God’s protection and supply, or if we only call upon Him to escape from our trials. God as our life is not for us to have a heart of profit. A believer who really knows God does not seek healing, but God Himself. He does not want health if it does not glorify God or if it turns him away from God. He should always remember that he is gradually falling away if his goal is merely to seek God’s gift rather than to care for God Himself. If a believer lives completely for God, he will not be desperate to ask for help, to pursue blessings, or to seek supply; instead, he will commit himself unconditionally into God’s hands.
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 14: The Spiritual Man (3), Chapter 11, by Watchman Nee)
