A Redirection of Spiritual Focus

I do not read from Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest" as often as I should. As with all man-written books, this one contains truth and error. But the grains of wisdom sometimes startle me.

I don't read according to the date and today I picked up this little book, opening to January 31st "Do You See Your Calling?"

Lately I've felt spiritually low. And, as with all such moments in my walk with the Lord, the fault is on my side. I have failed to maintain daily devotions and prayer, letting other things of an entertaining appeal take their place. So today I opened "My Utmost for His Highest" as a starting point of spiritual renewal . . . and I found a precious grain of wisdom from Oswald Chambers that I'd like to share:

"Personal holiness is an effect, not a cause, and if we place our faith in human goodness, in the effect of Redemption, we shall go under when the test comes. Paul did not say he separated himself, but, 'when it pleased God who separated me...' Paul had not a hypersensitive interest in his own character. As long as our eyes are upon our own personal whiteness we shall never get near the reality of Redemption. Workers break down because their desire is for their own whiteness, and not for God . . .."

How often are you at fault for this? I know I have been, often, too often. And I am ashamed of that. Do I seek my own personal glory and purity, or the glory and purity of Christ? My eyes have been inward, not outward. So focused on the goal of establishing my own path that I neglected the One who blazed that path so that I might live. It is good to meditate on the attributes of Christ, for it is not our own goodness that brings us closer to him, but the humbling of our own selves in order to praise and honor Him.