In Which I Glean from the Wisdom of George

I just finished reading a tremendous book:  The Autobiography of George Muller.  Shared with me by my dear friend-through-blogging Margie, it has occupied a spot on my bookshelf for a number of months.  It's taken me forever to read it!  It's not that it's such a long book or a hard one to read, but what happened was this:  I would pull out the book, read a little bit, and get so convicted by something I read that I would have to stop reading and take some time to absorb what I had just read!  Not a very quick way to get through a book...  :)

So many things stood out to me, and I'm sure if I had been reading my own copy, I would have underlined and circled and starred profusely.  Every page would probably have markings on it.  As it is, I just jotted down a few things that I read recently and was especially touched by.

George wrote:

I began this work to show the world and the Church that God in heaven hears and answers prayer. (Which was really interesting to me because I thought he began the work to take care of orphans!  However, he repeatedly assures the reader that his primary motivation was to demonstrate the power of God to answer prayer.)

...

The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need.  Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come.  Money is really worth no more than as it can be used to accomplish the Lord's work.  Life is worth as much as it is spent for the Lord's service.

...

The great business which the disciple of the Lord Jesus has to be concerned about is to seek the Kingdom of God.  I believe this means to seek the external and internal prosperity of the Church.  If we seek to win souls for the Lord Jesus, we are seeking the external prosperity of the Kingdom of God.  If we help our fellow-members in the Body grow in grace and truth or care for them in any way, we are seeking the internal prosperity of God.


In connection with this, we also have to seek His righteousness.  This means to seek to be more and more like God--to seek to be inwardly conformed to the mind of God.  If these two things are attended to diligently, we come to that precious promise:  "And all these things [that is, food, clothing, or anything else you need for this present life] shall be added unto you."


Do you make it your primary business and your first great concern to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?  Are the things of God, the honor of His name, the welfare of His Church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim?  Or does your business, your family, or your own temporal concerns primarily occupy your attention?  Remember that the world will pass away, but the things of God will endure forever.  


...

Thanks, George, for your example of faithful trust in the Lord and reliance on His provision.  You've been a hero to me since the days of my childhood when I first heard of you and could picture you with your orphans sitting around a table, with not a bit of food in the house.  I could sense your desperation and the fervency of your prayer that God would provide.  I shared your jubilation when a knock sounded on the door and someone arrived with food for the orphans or money with which to buy food.  You have indeed shown me that God in heaven hears and answers prayer; and during my wilderness wanderings of late, He's used your words as part of the bountiful feast He's set before me.  I can hardly wait to meet you someday, when I cross that ol' River Jordan and enter the Promised Land.