Can a man’s (woman’s) enthusiasm or activity or even service at church outshine his character. God is far more interested in purity and spiritual character. William Wilberforce was a member of Parliament yet his quiet time with God is what made his life so worthy of note. He would greatly impress you as a holy person if you were to read the story of his life. Spurgeon said:
“One night alone in prayer, might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing. We have an example of it in the life of Jacob. [At one] time the crafty shuffler, always bargaining and calculating, unlovely in almost every respect, yet one night in prayer turned the supplanter into a prevailing prince, and robed him with celestial grandeur. From that night he lives on the sacred page as one of the nobility of heaven. Could not we, at least now and then, in these weary earthbound years, hedge about a single night for such enriching traffic to the skies? What, have we no sacred ambition? Are we deaf to the yearnings of divine love? Yet,… for wealth and for science men will cheerfully quit their warm couches, and cannot we do it now and again for the love of God and the good of souls? Where is our zeal, our gratitude, our sincerity? I am ashamed while I thus upbraid both myself and you. May we often tarry at Jabbok, and cry with Jacob, as he grasped the angel–
With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.
Surely,…if we have given whole days to folly, we can afford a space for heavenly wisdom.”
C. H. Spurgeon
