I saw that giving even all my life to God (supposing it possible to do this and go no further) would profit me nothing unless I gave my heart, yea, all my heart, to Him.
Interpretation
True devotion requires more than just action; it demands complete surrender of one's heart and spirit.
John Wesley's quote emphasizes that merely dedicating time or effort to a higher power is not enough for true faith. It conveys the idea that genuine commitment to God involves an all-encompassing love that comes from the heart, suggesting that spiritual fulfillment is achieved through heartfelt devotion rather than mere ritual or superficial gestures.
In practice
This quote can be used in a sermon to illustrate the importance of genuine faith and devotion.
I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God's creational intentions.
I plainly felt that, had God given me such a retirement with the companion I desired, I should have forgotten the work for which I was born and have set up my rest in this world.
I asked long ago,'What must I do to be saved?' The Scripture answered, 'Keep the commandments, believe, hope, love.' I was early warned against laying, as the Papists do, too much stress on outward works, or on a faith without works, which as it does not include, so it will never lead to true hope or charity.
Prayer is where the action is.
In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every outward thing, look only to the power of His Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not get stuck in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labor. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, fix on Him in all, through all, and above all...Remember also to use all means as means-as ordained, not for their own sake.
Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth.
In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians.
To fail to pray, then, is not to merely break some religious rule- it is a failure to treat God as God.
Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are proceeded by a personal encounter with Him. Theological insights are gained not only from between two covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world
Are we ready to be Christians full-time, showing our commitment by word and deed?
The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.
We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.
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