Master, bless.
If a man wants to understand Christ's words fully, and relish the flavour of them, he must be one who is trying to fashion his whole life on Christ's model.
~The Imitation of Christ
"He must be one who is trying to fashion his whole life on Christ's model." The Lord cannot be a mere part of my life, a special "compartment" outside of the center and peripheral to it. I must breathe Christ. I must be obsessed with Christ. I must love Him with a strength that overpowers everything else. All things must relate to Him and reflect Him. His teachings must be the lenses that correct my vision at all times.
I have not achieved this yet because I am too easily distracted and afflicted by trifle concerns. It would not be so if I kept my mind upon what is eternal, as He Himself counseled. But I am not cowed; I shall continue to persist, that His words may nourish me.
The food that Christ gives me is aromatic in a way that no spice on earth could ever be. It is spiritually fragrant and rich, it fills the soul and heart with heavenly delight... It eradicates want.
Yesterday, I saw the inside of a church on a television program... My spirit exulted and fed upon the exquisite food that pertains to divine reality. Heavenly joy! Truly apart from Christ there is no lasting joy. Therefore, He must rule my life. He cannot be a "part-time" occupation, unrelated to some of my interests and activities. Such an idea is unseemly; more than that, it is impossible.
