Take Hold Of God!
There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.
Isaiah 64:7.
The prophet is not lamenting that there is none that stirreth up himself. There have never been more “rousements” in our religious life than today. We whip our jaded nerves into a St. Vitus’s dance but it is an end in itself; we do not get through to God. The way out of a spiritual stupor is not by getting into s stew. The stirring up of ourselves is a means to an end, to take hold of God. We must rouse ourselves to employ the means of grace, draw nigh to God that He may draw nigh to us.
We must stir up the gift of God. Like sugar in the lemonade, it may be there but it needs to be set in motion. The ashes need to be scraped off the coals in our hearts and the fire rekindled.
A lot of our religious bustle today does not take hold of God. We get excited and strike in all directions and keep the Lord busy putting back ears we lop off in our misdirected zeal, like Peter at the Saviour’s arrest. It is not merely stepping up our activities nor is it an emotional binge; it is arousing ourselves to employ the means God has provided, the Word, prayer, and all other ways of laying hold of Him.