F. B. Meyer
Faith made Elijah all he became; and faith will do as much for us, if only we can exercise it as he did, to appropriate the might of the eternal God. All power is in God; and it has pleased Him to store it all in the risen Saviour, as in some vast reservoir; and those stores are brought into human hearts by the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is given according to the measure of our receptivity and faith.
Oh that we would be as full of Divine power as Elijah was; and as able therefore to do exploits for God and truth! But before this can happen, we must pass through education as he. You must got to Cherith and Zarephath before you can stand on Carmel.
O souls that sigh for saintliness as harts pant for water-brooks, have ye counted the cost? Can ye bear the fiery ordeal? The manufacture of saints is no child’s play. The block has to be entirely separated from the mountain bed, ere the Divine chisel can begin to fashion it. The gold must be plunged into the cleansing fire, ere it can be moulded or hammered into an ornament of beauty for the King.
We must be prepared to die to the world with its censure or praise; to the flesh, with its ambitions and schemes; to the delights of a friendship which is insidiously lowering the temperature of the spirit; to the self-life, in all its myriad subtle and overt manifestations; and even, if it be God’s will, to the joys and consolations of religion.
All this is impossible to us of ourselves. But if we will surrender ourselves to God, willing that He should work in and for us that which we cannot do for ourselves, we shall find that He will gradually and effectually, and as tenderly as possible, begin to disentwine the clinging tendrils of the poisoning weed, and bring us into heart-union with Himself.
The man who is sure of God can afford to hold very lightly the things of this world. God Himself is his inalienable heritage; and, in having God, he has all. And, as we shall see, the man who “hedges” for himself does not do so well in the long run as the man who, having the right of choice, hands it back to God, saying: “Let others choose for themselves, if they please; but as for myself, Thou shalt choose mine inheritance for me.”
Selections by F. B. Meyer from Elijah in the Public Domain
LIFE ON THE ALTAR 