Page 46 - Overcoming Addiction

Matthew 7:6
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before
swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to
pieces.”

There are some things that a person needs to wrestle with for themselves. I
have often heard the example cited of a chick emerging from an egg, or a butterfly
emerging from a cocoon. At times an inexperienced person will witness this
struggle, and fear for the chick or the butterfly and will attempt to help them out.
But the struggle is necessary in order to acquire the strength to survive. Many
have “helped” a chick out by removing the shell from around them only to watch
the newly freed chick die as a result. The same is true of the butterfly.
It is good for people to manifest the effort required to obtain that which they
need. Someone who truly realizes their sinful condition and the salvation offered
in Christ should not need to be prodded to pray to God confessing his or her need.
It should be impossible for us to hold them back. We would do better to pray for
those who are manifesting a careless attitude toward their soul, asking God to
impress upon them the peril of their condition.
The same is true concerning the indwelling Spirit. We are naturally
compassionate toward the struggles of others, and are desirous of giving them
some relief. However, it would be tragic for us to convince a person that they have
received the Spirit if in actuality they have not. It is a healthy and desirous thing
for each man and woman to press in themselves to achieve the assurance of both
their salvation and their reception of the Spirit. This is why the Lord urged those
who needed the Spirit to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.”
The actual words the Lord used denote a continuous activity. They can be
translated as “keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on knocking,” until you have
received the Spirit from the Father. In the same passage, which was cited in an
earlier chapter, we read of the Lord’s parable where He spoke of a man needing
some food to set before his visitor that arrived at a late hour. This man went to his
neighbor and knocked on his door and asked for some bread to set before his
guest. The neighbor replied that he had already gone to bed and could not get up.
But the man persisted at the door and would not go away until his request had
been satisfied.
These things the Lord spoke as an example for us. We are to manifest
perseverance in receiving the Spirit. We are to be confident that if we do not go
away, but keep on asking, that the Lord will see our unwavering determination,
and He will give us what we ask for.
Just like the chick and the butterfly, it is necessary for the Christian to begin
his new life in Christ with such an effort. Life in Christ is full of challenges, and
many fall away when the going gets tough. Some have been hindered by well
meaning saints who sought to spare them the early trials of faith. My advice to all
those who are unsure of their having received the Spirit is to press into God until
you are sure. Seek the answer from Him alone. Storm the gates of heaven until you
obtain an answer of peace to your question.