Wednesdays with Words: The Opaque Veil

N-boy has been reading these “10 Boys Who … ” books. Recently, he read one who wrote about great theologians and writers. In the book he read about A W Tozer. He came down and asked if we had any or if he could read some.

I don’t know.

I asked a trusted friend at church what she thought and she recommended The Pursuit of God.  I found that I had it for Kindle already and that I could get the audio track to go along with it.

So, I sent it to N-boy’s Kindle and downloaded it to mine along with the audio.

And I’ve been listening.  Some while walking, some while cooking. Some while cleaning.  It is dense and heady, it will take ultiple readings … or listenings.

There was this one passage that caught me right away. In the chapter on The Speaking Voice, Tozer has been talking about our depravity and need for justification.  He talks about the necessity of salvation by grace.  He is talking about how many of us feed on doctrine and knowledge rather than longing after God.

The first hinderance to a true longing to pursue God that Tozer discussesis the self, ourself.  When the reader came to the opening of this paragraph, the statement stopped me in my tracks; and not just mine, according to Kindle, there were 6846 highlights of the passage.

When my husband saw the graphic, he wondered how true it was. He questioned based on our being made in the image of God. But that isn’t really Tozer’s point – our focus on ourselves – our needs, our thoughts, our wants – keep us from looking for God let alone finding Him.

Oh, that I could know the Lord better and see him clearly. I am too often selfish and self centered and keep my mind on things below rather than things above.

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