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Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:38).
Devotional
Among the many who profess Christ, how few seem to know anything by experience of the great and wondrous life of faith! Only those whom the Holy Spirit teaches the plague of their own hearts, the sinfulness of their sin, can possibly know it. How few there are who appear to possess vital religion in their souls!
How few choose Christ with his cross! The great mass of professors aim to separate them. They would sincerely bear the name of Christ. They would sincerely be accounted as followers of Christ. They would sincerely do something for the cause of Christ. But they hide his cross. They are ashamed of his cross. They shrink from his cross.
Christ and his outward lowliness, Christ and his poverty, Christ and his humiliation, Christ and the world's despising—these form no part of their creed nor their religion. But Christ and the world, Christ and popular opinion, Christ and the slavery of sin, Christ and an unhumbled spirit, Christ and a love of money, Christ and ease, Christ and self-indulgence—this makes up the religion of vast numbers who yet profess Christ and call themselves Christians.
Awful fact! How forcibly it reminds us of the solemn words of Jesus, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).
In view of this solemn truth, search your heart. Ask God's Spirit to search your heart. And in ascertaining the real state of your soul, take nothing for granted. Do not rest in past experience, or in gifts, or in usefulness. But be satisfied only with the present, inward witness of the Holy Spirit.
Search me, O Lord, and try this heart of mine,
search me, and prove if I indeed am thine.
Test by thy Word, that never changed can be,
my strength of hope and living faith in thee.
Search me, O Lord, subdue each vain desire,
and in my soul a deeper love inspire.
Hide thou my life, that I, supremely blest,
beneath thy wings in perfect peace may rest.
Search me, O Lord, and from the dross of sin,
refine as gold, and keep me pure within,
search thou my thoughts whose springs thine eyes can see;
from secret faults, O Savior, cleanse thou me.
Search me, O Lord, let faith through grace divine
thyself reflect in every act of mine,
till at thy call my waiting soul shall rise,
caught up with joy, to meet thee whom I prize.
(Fanny Crosby, 1875)
Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.
Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.
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