How Shall I Go to God?

Hey dudes, I read this this morning in personal Bible study. On our bookshelf we have a big green book which is part of a series called Soul-Winning Classics it is a compilation of shorter books by godly men, and the one we have is volume IV. In it is a book by Horatius Bonar called How Shall I Go to God?. I found the words spoke directly to many of my present feelings and doubts. The first page was written in a captivating question answer style that made me feel like I was listening in on a conversation between a troubled soul and a wise mature Christian. I wanted to share such wonderful truths with you guys too. The language is a bit different than we use now, but look for the same struggles that we go through, and get caught up in the progression of the reasoning.

[Question] “How shall I be happy?” was the question of a weary soul who had tried a hundred different ways to achieve happiness, and had always failed. [Answer] Secure the favor of God, was the prompt answer, by one who had himself tasted that the “Lord is gracious.”

[Q] “Is there no other way of being happy?” [A] None, was the quick and decided reply. Man has been trying other ways for six thousand years, and has utterly failed, and are you likely to succeed?

[Q] “No, not likely; and I don’t want to go on trying. But this favor of God seems such a shadowing thing, and God Himself so far off, that I know not which way to turn.” [A] God’s favor is no shadow; it is real beyond all other realities; and He Himself the nearest of all near beings, as accessible as He is gracious.

[Q] “That favor of which you speak has always seemed to me a sort of mist, of which I can make nothing.” [A] Say rather it is a sunshine which a mist is hiding from you.

[Q] “Yes, yes, I believe you; but how shall I get through the mist into the sunshine beyond? It seems so difficult, and to require such a length of time!” [A] You make that distant and difficult which God has made simple and near and easy.

[Q] “Do you mean to say that there are no difficulties?” [A] In one sense there are a thousand; in another, none.

[Q] “How is that?” [A] Did the Son of God put difficulties in the sinner’s way when he said to the multitude, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest”?

[Q] “Certainly not; He meant them to go at once to Him, as He stood there, and as they stood there, and He would give them rest.” [A] If you had then been upon the spot, what difficulties would you have found?

[Q] “None, certainly; to speak of difficulty while I was standing by the side of the Son of God would have been folly, or worse.” [A] Did the Son of God suggest difficulty to the sinner when He sat on Jacob’s well, by the side of the Samaritan? Was not all difficulty anticipated or put away by these wondrous words of Christ: “If you would have asked, I would have given”?

[Q] “Yes, no doubt; the asking and the giving was all. The whole transaction is finished on the spot. Time and space, distance and difficulty, have nothing to do with the matter; the giving was to follow the asking as a matter of course. So far all is plain. But I would ask: Is there no barrier here?” [A] None whatever, if the Son of God really came to save the lost. But if He came to for those who were only partly lost, or who could partly save themselves, the barrier is infinite. This I admit; nay, insist upon.

[Q] “Is the being lost, then, no barrier to our being saved? [A] Foolish question, which may be met by a foolish answer. Is your being thirsty a hindrance to your getting water, or is being poor a hindrance to your obtaining riches as a gift from a friend?”

[Q] “True; it is my thirst that fits me for the water and my poverty that fits me for the gold.” Yes, “the Son of Man came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” [A] If you are not wholly a sinner, there is a barrier; if you are wholly a sinner, there is no barrier!

[Q] “Wholly a sinner! Is that really my character?” [A] There is no doubt of that. If you doubt it, go and search your Bible. God’s testimony is that you are wholly a sinner, and must deal with Him as such, for those that are whole do not need a physician, but the ones that are sick.

[Q] “Wholly a sinner, well but must I not get rid of some of my sins before I can expect blessing from Him?” [A] No, indeed; He alone can deliver you from so much as one sin. You must go at once to Him with all that you have of evil, however much that may be. If you are not wholly a sinner, you don’t wholly need Christ, for He is out and out a Savior; He does not help you to save yourself, nor do you help Him to save you. He does all, or nothing. A half salvation will only do for those who are not completely lost. He alone bore our sins in His own body on the tree (I Peter 2:24).