THE FLOWING, SATISFYING LIFE
It is in the humanity of Jesus that we have the life, the growth of life, and the flowing of life. It is this kind of flowing life that satisfies others. If we are drinking daily of the Spirit of Jesus, whatever we are will be a flow of life that will satisfy not only ourselves, but also others. Such a flow of life is not a matter of speaking in tongues or the manifestation of gifts; nor is it a matter of power, knowledge, or teaching; rather, it is a life that is always drinking of Jesus. This life is manifested not in a miraculous, divine, and heavenly way, but in a very human way.
To be a mother is a very human matter, but you should not be a mother by your own humanity, but by the humanity of Jesus. I do not mean that if formerly you did not properly care for your family as a mother, you must now be more human and care for your family in a better way. That is not the revelation from the Lord, but the culture of human society. What I mean is that, as a mother, you need to be a mother by the humanity of Jesus. As a wife, you need to be a wife by the humanity of Jesus.
We must be proper human beings, not by our humanity, but by the Lord’s humanity. As a wife, we must be a wife by His humanity; as a husband, we must be a husband by His humanity; as a student, we must be a student by the humanity of Jesus. Eventually we all will be so different, yet so human. We will be wives, husbands, students, parents, children, and teachers by the humanity of Jesus. If we are this kind of person, we will have the flow of life that will satisfy others. I believe that if all the brothers and sisters who are teachers would be this kind of person, there would be a real flow of life in the schools. The other teachers and students would realize that there is something satisfying, living, and flowing within you. They might not be able to explain it, but they would sense it.
If you are a brother who is drinking of Jesus by enjoying His humanity, it may seem that you do not have power, yet the flow of life within you will satisfy, convince, attract, and eventually convert others. This is the spreading of the gospel in the church life. This kind of gospel preaching does not depend so much on the power, but on the life that enjoys Christ’s humanity.
The humanity of Jesus not only has much to do with the producing of gifted persons, but it also produces the flowing of the inner life to satisfy others. There is no other way to have such a flow of life but by enjoying the humanity of Jesus by drinking of the Spirit of Jesus all the time. We must have a real change in our concept. Whenever we pray, we must pray with this concept. Whenever we are drinking of the Spirit, we must drink of Him with this concept. We are not drinking of the Spirit for power, might, or miracles, but we are drinking of the Spirit of Jesus for the humanity of Jesus. As Andrew Murray said, it is not with the exercise of divine power, but with real human development. We need the proper humanity for our human life, and this proper humanity is not ours, but Jesus’. His humanity is not only the pure one, but also the resurrected, uplifted one. His humanity has been transfigured from a lower to a higher stage. And today we must drink of this uplifted, higher humanity for our human life. May the Lord be gracious to us that we may put all these things into practice.
(Christ as the Reality, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee)
