I am so proud and unwilling,
His humble disciple to be.

He yielded His will to the Father,
And chose to abide in the Light;
But I prefer wrestling to resting,
And try by myself to do right.

Lord break me, then cleanse me and fill me
And keep me abiding in Thee;
That fellowship may be unbroken,
And Thy Name be hallowed in me.

A saintly African Christian told a congregation once that, as he was
climbing the hill to the meeting, he heard steps behind him. He
turned and saw a man carrying a very heavy load up the hill on his
back. He was full of sympathy for him and spoke to him. Then he
noticed that His hands were scarred, and he realised that it was
Jesus. He said to Him, "Lord, are you carrying the world's sins up
the hill?" "No," said the Lord Jesus, "not the world's sin, just
yours!" As that African simply told the vision God had just given
him, the people's hearts and his heart were broken as they saw their
sins at the Cross. Our hearts need to be broken too, and only when
they are, shall we be willing for the confessions, the apologies, the
reconciliations and the restitutions, that are involved in a true
repentance of sin. Then, when we have been willing to humble
ourselves, as the Lord humbled Himself, the Dove will return to us.

Return, O heavenly Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest!
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn,
And drove Thee from my breast.

Ruled by the Dove.

One last word. The Dove is the emblem of peace, which suggests that
if the Blood of Jesus has cleansed us and we are walking with the
Lamb in humility, the sign of the Spirit's presence and fulness will
be peace. This is indeed to be the test of our walk all the way
along. "Let the peace of God rule (or arbitrate) in your hearts"
(Col. 3:15). If the Dove ceases to sing in our hearts at any time,
if our peace is broken, then it can only be because of sin. In some
matter we have departed from the humility of the Lamb. We must ask
God to show us what it is, and be quick to repent of it and bring the
sin to the Cross. Then the Dove will be once again in His rightful
place in our hearts and peace with God will be ours. In this way we
shall know that continuous abiding of the Spirit's presence, which is
open even to fallen men through the immediate and constant
application of the precious Blood of Jesus.

Shall we not begin from today to allow our lives to be ruled by the
Heavenly Dove, the peace of God, and allow H