Unrestrained Activity

Unrestrained Activity

In the book The Wisdom of Solomon,1 Chapter 7:22-24, we find a list (as we do in James, Chapter 3) of a number of wisdom’s excellent qualities. Among them we find one quality that recently caught my attention.

In wisdom there is a spirit of unrestrained activity. How true that is! And how desirable that is! The more I think about it, the more I must praise and honor God for this precious and beneficial quality that is beyond all description.

What is it that we actually all seek, whether we can express it in words or not? It is precisely this: that God’s workings in us and through us, our desire, our light, and God’s will with us might be active and unrestrained in every detail. And what is it that causes profound grief in our hearts? Isn’t it that God’s workings are restrained and hindered, and more or less diminished? Isn’t it that they cannot unfold freely and to their intended purpose?

And what is it that we are called to in Christ Jesus? Is it not liberty? Liberty from everything that wants to hinder God’s workings!

What is it that every servant of Christ, every fellow worker of God, discovers about souls with whom he is working? He discovers that God’s workings and the longing and light and the ministry of the souls are not able to develop freely to the utmost. He discovers that there is something that restrains, something that hinders and holds them back, something that binds them!

Isn’t this the very thing we are fighting against? God works in us both to will and to do. He always does this abundantly! Yet how much of all this is still—in spite of all the grace and work with souls—restrained?

What is the solution? The spirit of wisdom! It is unrestrained activity!!! Nothing is able to restrain its workings.

People say that they are not “in the mood”; they have no desire to go to the meeting, to pray or write, or whatever it might be. The problem is that they are restrained for one reason or another or for several reasons; they are hindered; they are paralyzed. Furthermore, they are laid up, with anchor cast, moored on land, steam throttled, the fire extinguished, and ashes cleaned out.

What is it that people lack? They lack the spirit of unrestrained activity. Therefore what is such a person in spirit and in truth, in reality, in the present case? He is the exact opposite of being wise: he is a fool. However, the exhortation is: “Therefore be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:17.

Therefore, what is to be done this, my friends? Pray for, search for, and believe in the spirit of wisdom. It possesses, among many other good things, the liberating power that you need and for which you are searching!

Sirach says that he prayed loudly for wisdom, and he found it when he cleansed himself. From what must you cleanse yourself? From much in every way. Among other things, from the fear of man, jealousy, envy, conceit, and arrogance. Do a thorough cleaning; be ready to receive the spirit of wisdom as an indwelling, permanent, always and in every way unrestrained, active power!

Having it in your breast is truly worthwhile! It says in the same passage [quoted at the beginning] that it is mobile; it even says that it is more mobile than any motion. That is something quite different from being bound!!!

What is it that is so often bound? Everything! Heart, mouth, and tongue; legs and arms, money and goods; house and home. What is it that binds all this? It is sin.

The wisdom that is from above is first of all pure. It dwells in God-fearing souls, in pure hearts, from one generation to another. Dear soul, cleanse yourself at all cost so you can receive the spirit of wisdom as your possession.

Write articles to Hidden Treasures first. If you should have some time left over, you can do less important things. Who says so? So speaks the spirit that is unrestrained activity, the spirit that is not hindered by earthly trifles.