"If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; if thou wert pure and upright, surely now He would awake for thee. . . Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase." (Job viii. 5-7.)
One may seek God at any hour of the day; but to seek Him early is best. Seeking early is the proof that this is to us the first and most important work of the day. Seeking early helps the soul to wait upon God the whole day, and seeking early can lay claim to gracious promises.
If you awake early to seek God, God will awake early for your sake. If you seek Him early and make supplication to the Almighty, if you cast out sin and are pure and upright, " though thy beginning was small thy latter end shall greatly increase." It shall be with your soul as with the morning hours. The dawn begins with a few faint beams of light, but the light increases continually unto the perfect day. Your beginning, too, shall be small, the work of grace may be, at first, very feeble, but" thy latter end shall greatly increase." Only persevere in early seeking after God. Be alone with God, regularly, faithfully, morning after morning, without knowing how the blessing is going to come. You will grow stronger in the fear and the service of God, and in the love and joy of Christ. The God whom you seek early is a faithful God, "surely now He will awake for thee," and watch over thee in silence and work in thee, and" thy latter end shall greatly increase if thou wouldst seek unto God betimes."
Be the first to react on this!
Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917)
Brother Andrew Murray was a well-known writer/preacher in South Africa who ministered amongst the Dutch Reformed churches. His writings now are widely accepted by modern evangelicals and he is published more than ever in his life-time.Some of his better known books titles are: "Abide In Christ", "Absolute Surrender," and "Humility." His burden for the body of Christ were teachings on the abiding Spirit of Christ in the believer, the life of faith with God daily, and the life of intercession and prayer in the Church.
Andrew Murray was possibly the strongest spokesman of the Philadelphian age to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him.
Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life".
Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience.
Andrew Murray was one of four children born to Pastor Andrew, Sr., and Maria Murray. He was raised in what was considered to be the most remote corner of the world - Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. Educated in Scotland and Holland, in 1848 Andrew, Jr., returned to South Africa as a missionary and minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. His first appointment was to Bloemfontein, a territory of nearly 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people.
Andrew and his brother John had been in close contact with a revival movement in Scotland, an evangelical extension of the ongoing Second Great Awakening in America. He prayed for the same sort of awakening for the church in South Africa and wrote, "My prayer is for revival, but I am held back by the increasing sense of my own unfitness for the work. I lament the awful pride and self complacency that have till now ruled my heart. O that I may be more and more a minister of the Spirit." (J. du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray)
In 1860, revival did come to the churches of Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently spread to surrounding towns and villages. Even remote farms and plantations felt the impact as lives were changed. Where once the churches had not been able to find one man ready to be a leader for God, the revival raised up 50 in Murray's Cape Town parish alone. There were more conversions in one month in that parish than in the whole course of its previous history. (Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love)
Greatly concerned for the spiritual guidance of new converts and renewed Christians, Andrew Murray wrote over 240 books. His writings reflect his own longing for a deeper life in Christ and his prayer that others would long for and experience that life as well.