Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.
—Psalm 73:25
Alone with God—this is a lesson of the deepest importance. May we seek grace from God to reach its depths. Then we will learn that there is another lesson of equally deep significance: wholly for God.
As we find that it is not easy to persevere in being alone with God, we begin to see that it is because the other is lacking; we are not “wholly for God.” Because He is the only God, He has a right to demand to have us wholly for Himself. Without this surrender, He cannot make His power known. We read in the Old Testament that His servants Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and David gave themselves wholly and unreservedly to God, so that He could work out His plans through them. It is only the fully surrendered heart that can fully trust God for all He has promised.
This world teaches us that if anyone desires to do a great work, he must give himself wholly to it. This principle is especially true of the love of a mother for her child. She gives herself wholly to the little one whom she loves. Is it not reasonable that the great God of love should have us wholly for Himself? And will we not take the words wholly for God as the keynote for our devotions every morning when we awaken? Just as God gives Himself wholly to us, so does He desire that we give ourselves wholly to Him.
In the inner chamber, let us meditate on these things alone with God, and with earnest desire ask Him by His almighty power to work in us all that is pleasing in His sight.
Wholly for God—what a privilege! What wonderful grace prepares us for it! Wholly for God—separated from men, from work, and from all that might draw us away—what great blessedness as the soul learns what it means, and what God gives with it!
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
They “sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of them” (2 Chronicles 15:15).
“With my whole heart have I sought thee” (Psalm 119:10).