The Best Friend I've Never Met

Can someone be your friend if the two of you have never shared

                                                 a meal,

                                                            a conversation,

                                                                                    or a memory?

I think so. I know so.

It's a frequent occurrence for me. Charles Spurgeon. A.W. Tozer. Sarah Young. They're all the truest, wisest, most dependable of friends...even though we've only met on the pages of their books. And this year I became especially close to yet another sacred sibling whose voice I've never heard and whose face I know only through photos: Dr. E. Stanley Jones.



E. Stanley Jones
1884-1973




My introduction to Eli Stanley Jones occurred more than 15 years ago via one of his quotes that appeared in a book I was reading for Mid-Morning. I've since forgotten the title of the book but not Dr. Jones' quote:

 

I looked into the face of Christ and was forever spoiled for anything that was unlike Him.

 

 When Summerside Press released Jones' classics Abundant Living and Victorious Living a little more than a year ago, the Methodist pastor - and missionary to India - and I began keeping company on a regular basis. He talked. I listened. The result? My outlook, faith, and life have become even more aligned with the Lord's!

 

 Here's a sampling of what this humble, Spirit-dependent servant of God wrote:

 

 In order to have a continuous state of relaxed receptivity, we must have periods of quiet when we gain the poise and power that will go through the whole day.

 

 The more you obey Jesus, the more He becomes the center of your affection.

 

 Habits are formed by regularity. Pray by the clock, if necessary, and soon you will pray by inward urge.

 

 Do you will to receive the Holy Spirit, not as a passing influence that may get you out of spiritual difficulties, give you momentary satisfaction, lift and inspire you--not that, but as an abiding Power that will take over the citdel of yourself and reign there as a lifelong proposition?

 

 And the prayers! O, his prayers that conclude every daily reading. I relish them as much as his devos:

 

 O Spirit of God, bring this wandering, wavering will of mine to the bondage of Your freedom, to the narrowness of Thy universality, to the yoke that is easy, and to the burden that is light. I bend my neck. (I love that he calls me higher, higher and higher in faith and devotion. He makes me yearn for the good God desires for me, even while I drag my feet, wanting to stay as I am.)

 

 O Spirit of God, I have said a "Yes" that covers everything; now help me to live in a state of "Yes-ness" to Your unfolding will.

 

O God, now I come to You just as I am. If anything can be made of me, do it. I am at Your disposal. I've come with all I have.

 

And finally...

 

O God my Father, I want to be like You. Take out of me all antagonism, all divisions, all clashes, so that those I meet this day will instinctively feel that I breathe "Peace."

Thank you, "E," for pointing me to Jesus. For now, I must be satisfied with our one-way communication: from your books into my mind and heart. But one day. Yes, one day we'll share a forever meal.

And I'm going to talk your ear off!