A married sister should take her husband as her person, but this often is difficult when the husband is not proper in every regard. However, our Lord is a proper Husband in every matter. He is perfect, omnipotent, bountiful, and rich. As such, He is more than able to be a proper Husband to us, and we will not suffer any loss if we take Him as our person. Some may not agree with this and may point to the losses that the apostle Paul suffered, but such a view comes from not knowing what is the real gain in the universe. The real gain is Christ. Gaining other things has no meaning. Paul says, “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse” (Phil. 3:8). Here the word refuse refers to kitchen discards, such as spoiled rice or fish bones, something that nobody wants. When we throw these things away as garbage, only dogs will eat them. Everything other than Christ is just like dog food. Even if we gained these things, what is the benefit?
Even though some say, “I cannot exist without material things,” should we not trust the Lord’s promise? In His eyes material things are not a problem. Once, someone said to me, “You have urged me to believe in Jesus. Will Jesus take care of my meals?” I can boldly guarantee that if we truly believe in Jesus, believing in Him with a proper heart, our meals will not be a problem, because Jesus takes care of our needs. No person who fears the Lord, loves Him, and follows Him will starve to death. Similarly, we do not have to worry about our children starving to death. On the contrary, history tells us that God has abundantly blessed the children of those who fear, love, and follow the Lord.
Everything is in the Lord’s hand. Hence, we should not be concerned about material things. If we care for them, we will be deceived (Mark 4:19). Material things should not be a concern to us. As long as we hand over our future, our living, and our children and are persons who love and follow Him, the Lord will bless us for a thousand generations. This is His promise. In Exodus 20:6 the Lord said that He will show “lovingkindness to thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” The promise in the New Testament is even higher than this word in the Old Testament.
For a person who genuinely loves the Lord and takes Him as his person, outward, material losses often are a great gain. Madame Guyon received grace to such an extent that she asked the Lord for more experience of the cross, because she knew that without the cross she would not gain God. In her sufferings she gained the Lord. Christians ordinarily ask the Lord to deliver them from afflictions, but Madame Guyon loved the Lord to such an extent that she was willing to suffer. She knew that in her sufferings she would gain more of the Lord.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul speaks of having a treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power might be manifested. This power was not manifested through his praise or his exaltation. Instead, he spoke of being pressed on every side, persecuted, and cast down (vv. 8-9). All these things are related to adversity. However, in the midst of his difficult circumstances of being persecuted, oppressed, and cast down, the apostle experienced the Lord and manifested the excellency of His power.
It is not easy to be a young person in this day and age. A young person needs to be aggressive to advance, to have a good education, and to learn good skills; otherwise, he will have difficulties in his human living. Internationally, nations strive with other nations, and in society, people strive with one another. Striving is part of the trend of the age. To stand against this trend, the young brothers and sisters should take the Lord as their person. Then, if the Lord leads you to study, you should study diligently. You should put your future in the Lord’s hand completely. You do not have to blindly follow the trend, drifting with the tide of this age. You will still have a future, even if you do not study abroad. In itself going abroad is not necessarily good; whether or not it is good for you depends entirely on Him. You do not have to spend much time considering this matter; rather, you should take the Lord as your person, caring for what He delights in and living together with Him. If He desires that you study, you should study. Live together with Him and be one with Him in this living. He is your person, and you live because of Him. You should commit all outward things into His hand and let Him bear the full responsibility.
There are no problems when we allow the Lord to bear the full responsibility. If there are problems, it is because we have not taken Him as our person. All our asking for outward things is an indication that we are not taking the Lord as our person. Rather than praying for outward things, we should be seeking His feelings and intentions. If we do not take the Lord as our person, we will be very busy asking for outward things. However, when we take the Lord as our person, we will not be influenced by outward things, and we will be unaffected by outward circumstances. Outwardly, we may not be in a situation in which there are no problems, but if we truly enter into the experience of taking Christ as our person, we will have an inward enjoyment of Christ that money cannot buy.
In Philippians 3:8 Paul says that he counted all things as refuse that he might gain Christ. When he was writing this word, he had been saved for many years, and he was full of experience. Nevertheless, he still says, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (v. 12). Paul was unwilling to say that he had already obtained Christ completely. Paul had obtained Him in part but not in full, so he pursued to lay hold of that for which he had been laid hold of by the Lord. The Lord laid hold of Paul so that Paul could lay hold of Him. Paul knew that there was more of Christ that he could lay hold of. The extent to which Paul laid hold of Christ depended on the extent to which he pursued Christ. The extent to which Paul laid hold of and enjoyed Christ depended on the extent to which he allowed Christ to be his person. Consequently, Paul said that he was still pursuing, and in his pursuit he was unwilling to be distracted by things that he once considered to be gain.
The young brothers and sisters should not be distracted. You should love the Lord and give yourselves to Him rather than worrying about your future related to education, marriage, and jobs. If you are filled with so many questions about what you should do, you will be finished spiritually, and Christ will not be able to be your person. All that He will be able to do is to let you try to take care of these matters yourself. Worldly people who neither have nor want the Lord have their futures all planned out; they plan to finish high school, finish college, and then go abroad to study to get a Ph.D. After completing their education, they will take the next step in their plan. I would ask those who love the Lord, what are the steps that you need to take? The first step is to take Christ as your person. The second step is to take Christ as your person, and the next steps are the same unto eternity, that is, to take Christ as your person.
Please try and see whether or not you will starve to death if you take Christ as your person. Please be at rest. You do not need to ask about food, drink, or clothing. These are the things that the Gentiles anxiously seek. Our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things. We should seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us (Matt. 6:31-33). We should not be distracted by thoughts of food, drink, or clothing. This is especially true for mothers; there is no need to be distracted by thoughts of these things. Once we commit these matters to the Lord, we commit them to Him forever. We should declare, “I have committed these things to the Lord, and the Lord is my person. He is responsible for everything. If He wants me to starve, I will starve, because He is my person. Whether I live or I die, I am the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).
We have a co-worker in China who is more than ten years older than I am. When the churches in China were suffering from persecution, he was put into prison several times. However, he never prayed, “Lord, deliver me from the hands of these people! Lord, preserve me!” He never prayed this kind of prayer. When he was brought to be interrogated, there was no need to interrogate him. He began to speak to the interrogators, “There are only three things that you can do to me. If you want to kill me, do it right away. If you want to put me in prison, put me in prison right away. If you release me, I will go and preach Jesus. My Lord loves to preach the gospel the most; this is why I love preaching the gospel. He was not afraid to die, and neither am I. He is not afraid to be imprisoned; in fact, He likes being imprisoned. Hence, imprisonment is not a problem to me. Therefore, I repeat, there are only three things that you can do. You can kill me, put me in prison, or release me so that I can preach Jesus. It is that simple.” Although he was imprisoned for a period of time, his persecutors eventually released him because they did not know what to do. He had a thorough consecration, and he had the experience of taking Christ as his person.
Some young brothers and sisters, who are seniors in college, are asking the Lord, “Should I go to the United States, or should I stay here?” Others are asking, “What should I do now that I have graduated? Should I continue my studies or get a job? What about my marriage?” These are prayers by pitiful believers. If we have taken the Lord as our person, we will not be so pitiful. We will say with joy, “Hallelujah! I have taken Christ as my person. If He wants to study abroad, I will follow Him. If He wants to stay, I will stay here with Him.”
Many of our prayers are the prayers of pitiful believers. However, once we take Christ as our person, we will no longer be pitiful! We are the bride, and Christ is our Husband. The God of the universe is our Husband. The omniscient, omnipotent, all-sufficient, and all-enriching God is our Husband. Hence, we should not live as pitiful Christians. We should take the Lord as our person and enjoy Him as our Husband.