Ill Christ Is
Life
God and Shakespeare and You ^I^Jhe reason W illiam Shakespeare is considered one of the I great writers of all time is that he had a wonderful ability to peer into the very heart of human emotions and then put what he saw into superbly beautiful language. Ham let is m y favorite work of Shakespeare. Each time I read it I become more fascinated with its depth. This morning I was reading A ct III, Scene III where King Claudius is trying to pray for forgiveness for murdering his brother who had been king. On his knees he speaks these words: And what’s in p rayer but this tw ofold force, To be forestalled ere w e com e to fall, Or pardon’d being down? Then I ’ll look up; M y fau lt is past. But, O, what form o f p rayer Can serve m y turn? “ Forgive m e m y fou l murder” ?
Perhaps your relationship with God isn’t always what you’d like it to be. Each month this special page is written to help seeking hearts find that in Christ is abundant life. When you’ve read this page won’t you clip and share it with a friend?
That cannot be; since I am still possess’d O f those effects fo r which I did th e murder, M y crown, m ine own ambition, and m y queen. M a y one be pardon’d and retain th’ offen ce? Then rising the king says: M y words fly up, m y thoughts remain below . W ords w ithout thoughts n ever to heaven go.
Isn’t this a picture of each of us who doesn’t have a right relationship with God? W e realize there is something standing between us and God. W ith King Claudius it was murder and lust and ambition. W ith us it is probably nothing more dis- tateful to society than our own w ill. W e just cannot bear to let loose of our own plans and hopes and ambitions. W e want God’s blessing but we want it to come exactly as we dictate. W e ’re afraid God might make a mistake and take something away from us that we can’t bear to lose. So we hold on like King Claudius and in the end we must come to realize as he did that there is no pardon where there is no surrender. But we need not fear to surrender our w ill to His will. God in Christ has demonstrated His great love for each of us. It has been the delightful experience of all who have given their w ill over to God to find that instead o f losing some won derful aspect of life they gain. And this gain is a life with full- orbed meaning. Life takes on a warm glow and purpose that is outside our own little self. Recall the words o f Jesus: “ He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for m y sake shall find it.” I know this isn’t a very popular concept nowadays. The popular trend is to express yourself, indulge yourself. But Christ said deny self. N ow if we’ve tried indulging self and found that our tender pampering hasn’t brought inner hap piness then let’s make the experiment o f surrendering our will to Christ. It will be the most important experiment you ’ve ever made. — L. H. n
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