He is not a wise man who says, “I am a believer in Christ, and therefore it little matters what are my inward feelings and experience.” He who so speaks should remember that keeping the heart with all diligence is a precept of inspiration, and that a careless walk usually comes to a very sorrowful ending. The apostle did take account; but when he had done so he was dissatisfied: “I count not myself to have apprehended.” Nor was that dissatisfaction to be regretted: it was a sign of true grace, a conclusion which is always arrived at when saints judge themselves rightly. Most weighty is that word of Chrysostom, “He who thinks he has obtained everything, hath nothing.”
Had Paul been satisfied with his attainments he would never have sought for more. Most men cry “hold,” when they think they have done enough. The man who could honestly write, “I press forward,” you may be quite sure was one who felt that he had not yet apprehended all that might be gained. Self-satisfaction rings the death-knell of progress. There must be a deep-seated discontent with present attainments, or there will never be a striving after the things which are yet beyond.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Onward!," delivered May 25, 1873. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.
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