Complete in Him, February 22

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:10. You cannot enter heaven with any deformity or imperfection of character, and you must be fitted for heaven now in this probationary life. If you would enter the abode of the righteous when Christ shall come, you must have the deep movings of the Spirit of God, that you may have an individual experience, and be complete in Him who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Through the power of the righteousness of Christ, we are to depart from all iniquity. There must be a living connection of the soul with its Redeemer. The channel of communication must be open continually between man and his God, that the soul may grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. But how many do not pray. They feel under condemnation for sin, and they think they must not come to God until they have done something to merit His favor, or until God has forgotten about their transgressions. They say, “I cannot hold up holy hands before God without wrath or doubting, and therefore I cannot come.” So they remain away from Christ, and are committing sin all the time in so doing, for without Him you can do nothing but evil. Just as soon as you commit sin, you should flee to the throne of grace, and tell Jesus all about it. You should be filled with sorrow for sin, because through sin you have weakened your own spirituality, grieved the heavenly angels, and wounded and bruised the loving heart of your Redeemer. When you have asked Jesus in contrition of soul for His forgiveness, believe that He has forgiven you. Do not doubt His divine mercy, or refuse the comfort of His infinite love. If your child had disobeyed you, and committed wrong against you, and that child should come with a breaking heart to ask forgiveness, you know what you would do. You know how quickly you would draw your child to your heart, and assure him that your love was unchanged, and his transgressions forgiven. Are you more merciful than your merciful heavenly Father, who so loved the world that He “gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? (John 3:16). You should go to God as children go to their parents.—The Bible Echo, February 1, 1892.