THE FOUR STEPS OF GOD’S WORK
IN MAKING HIMSELF AVAILABLE FOR OUR ENJOYMENT
Let us now consider the way to enjoy God. How can God become every part of our being? How can we practically enjoy God in our daily living? We thank the Lord that He prepared the way for us long ago. In order for us to enjoy God and receive Him as the constituent of our inner being, He has taken four steps.
The First Step—Creating Man with a Spirit
In the first step God created man with a human spirit. Even though we have spoken of this matter often in the past, for the sake of the new ones we need to repeat this point.
God created everyone with a stomach so that we can enjoy our food. If we did not have a stomach, there would not be a place for us to receive the food we eat, and it would be impossible for us to enjoy our food. The function of our stomach is to enjoy the food we eat. Similarly, in order for us to receive and enjoy God, He created us with a spirit. The spirit within us is for receiving God and enjoying Him.
A poor man may think that he needs only clothes, food, a dwelling place, and transportation. As long as he can eat, is clothed, lives comfortably, and is mobile, he is satisfied. After being satisfied with these things, however, he will discover that there is another need within him. He may realize that he needs entertainment in his psychological being and then engage in different kinds of amusement, such as music, literature, or other diversions. After he has possessed these things and has tasted of their enjoyment, he will become keenly aware of yet another need deep in his being. This need is not physical or psychological; it originates from his spirit.
When a man is very rich, he thinks about worshipping God, and when a man is in pain or dire conditions, he also thinks about worshipping God, because when he is rich or in pain, he discovers that he has a need in his spirit. When man enjoys life because of his riches, tasting every blessing and every good thing that life can afford, he discovers that he still has a need in his spirit. When he is neither poor nor rich and neither in pain nor in joy, he feels no need to worship God. When he is not concerned with himself, he is not concerned with God. However, when he suffers greatly, experiences extreme poverty, or is sick to the point of dying, he begins to think about God. On the contrary, a person who is extremely rich and happy and who experiences all the blessings there are under heaven may ask himself, “What is the point of all these indulgences? These things do not satisfy me.” He then begins to seek after God and to look for ways to worship Him. This principle holds true among all the races of human society, whether they are civilized or barbaric, refined or vulgar.
One will never see a dog, cat, or monkey worshipping God when it is desperate. Even when animals are at the height of their excitement or suffering, they will not turn to God or worship God. They have no need to worship God, because they do not have a spirit. Man is different. There is a spirit within man, and this spirit has a need. A nonchalant man does not feel the need in his spirit. But when he is brought to extreme circumstances, either extreme elation or extreme desperation, the need in his spirit is made manifest. He feels a deep need within him, a need that no person, thing, or matter on earth can satisfy. Nothing physical can satisfy this need. It is at such times that man thinks of worshipping God. There is a spirit within man, and God created man with this spirit in order that he could receive and enjoy Him.
The difference between man and all other creatures is that he has a spirit within him. It is no wonder the sages of old said that man is the spirit of all things. Only man has a spirit. Hence, of all the things in creation, only man possesses a spirit. Man is certainly the highest of all creation. Apart from God’s life, man’s life is the highest life, because there is a spirit within him. Man’s spirit is an organ, prepared by God for him to receive and enjoy God.
The daily salvation of a Christian is a matter of his spirit. Whether he is rich or poor, suffering or joyful, every Christian can testify of the same experience. When he opens to God and fellowships with Him, he finds joy and satisfaction in his spirit, but when he does not open to God or fellowship with Him in his spirit, he feels that something is missing or lacking, and he is unhappy. We feel this way because we have not absorbed God. If we would spend some time every day to pray before the Lord, that is, to stop our mind, exercise our spirit, and fellowship with Him by contacting Him, absorbing Him, and opening ourselves to be filled with Him, we will experience unspeakable satisfaction, freshness, and relief.
If we remain in a room with closed windows for a long time, we will feel that the room is stuffy and soon want to go outside and breathe fresh air for five minutes. After breathing deeply we will feel relieved, refreshed, uplifted, and satisfied. As children of God who fellowship with Him, we can each testify of such experiences. When we spend a little time to be with God every day, when we stop our thoughts and exercise our spirit to fellowship with Him, absorb Him, and be filled with Him, we sense indescribable sweetness, freshness, freedom, and satisfaction. This feeling proves that we have eaten and have drunk a satisfying portion of God.
We all should have had this experience. It is doubtful whether we are genuine Christians if we have never tasted the sweetness of God. Perhaps we are nominal Christians who have merely touched something of Christianity. We must see that God can be tasted; He is edible and drinkable. We can absorb God and enjoy Him. Sometimes as we are absorbing God in the morning, we need to say, “I will be very busy today, so I want to spend a little more time to absorb You and keep You within me throughout the day.” We can have such an experience in our spirit. God has created us with a spirit, and this spirit is the deepest part of our being. It is the organ for us to receive God and the means for us to enjoy Him. This is the first step that God has taken for us.