March 25

Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity. — Isa 54:13 BSB

The teaching of God can only be understood and experienced by those who have come to the end of all creaturely perfection, who are utterly and experimentally empty of any wisdom in the flesh. And God's teaching never leaves a person where it finds them—dead, indifferent, worldly, and carnal. If someone is in distress, God’s teaching will not leave them in distress; if they feel guilty, it won’t leave them in guilt; if they are in darkness, it won’t leave them in darkness. It lifts them out of these states. This is why God's people continually seek His instruction, knowing that without His special teaching, they cannot know anything as they ought.

In fact, the more light they receive, the more light they seek. For when the light is withdrawn, the darkness is even more keenly felt. If any portion of Scripture has been opened up to them, they desire more of the same. If they have received consolation and then lose it, they long for its return. As a result, the more wise and spiritual God’s people become, the more foolish and carnal they appear to themselves. The stronger they grow in the Lord, the more they feel the weakness of their flesh. The closer they walk with the Lord, the more they discover the wretched wanderings of their own sinful hearts.