In taking Christ in any new relationship, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our minds that we are entitled to stand in this relationship. The shadow of a question here will wreck our confidence. Then, having seen this, we must make the committal, the choice. That commitment must be just as definite as the planting of a tree in the soil, or the bride who presents herself at the marriage altar. It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall. Then there is a season of establishing, settling and testing, during which we must stay put until the new relationship gets so fixed as to become a permanent habit. For example, when the surgeon sets the broken arm he puts it in splints to keep it from moving until the bone knits. So God has His spiritual splints that He wants to put upon His children to keep them quiet and unmoving until they pass the first stage of faith. It may not be easy, but the God of all grace, who hath called you unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, [will] . . . stablish, strengthen, settle you.
