| The Joy of Service |
Chapter 10 |
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This truth of the living God is full of rich encouragement. It assures us of complete satisfaction for all our cravings. We know what a satisfying of the heart even a strong human friendship gives. There are friends who are to us like a great rock in a weary land. We flee to them in the heat of parching days, and rest in their shadow. A friend in whom we can confide without fear of disappointment; who, we are sure, will never fail us; who always has a healing tenderness for the hurt of our heart, comfort for our sorrows, and cheer for our discouragement – such a friend is not only a rock of shelter for us in time of danger, but is also as rivers of water in a thirsty land, when our hearts cry out for life and love.
Yet this, at its best, is only a hint of what God is to those who bring their thirsts to Him. The cross of Christ meets the soul’s most intense cry for pardon. The Divine love meets the deepest yearnings of the hungriest heart for love. God’s wisdom answers all the questions of human eagerness to know. Things alone will never satisfy an immortal life; even the best of God’s blessings and gifts will not do it; nothing less than God Himself will suffice. Yet this is what Christian faith finds – not the mere tokens of Divine favour, the comforts of Divine care, but God Himself. “I am thy friend,” is the assurance that comes to each trusting one. Thus it is that God meets all human cravings – by giving us Himself.
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