The Meaning of the Title

The title for this blog comes from a relatively insignificant book written by Amy Carmichael during one of her many years as a missionary in India. Entitled His Thoughts Said... His Father Said..., this book is meant to be a series of conversations between God and one of His children throughout various circumstances (primarily trials) of life.

One of the conversations proceeds thus:

His thoughts said, 'The rocks are far too steep for me. I cannot climb.'
     His father said, 'With Me as thy Guide, thou canst. I have not given thee the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of discipline. Whence then this spirit of fear?'
     His thoughts said, 'But who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall rise up in His holy place? Shall I ever pass the foothills?'
     His Father said, 'Is thine heart set on ascents?'
     The son answered, 'O Lord, Thou knowest.'
     And the Father comforted him. 'Commit thy way--thy way to the summit--to thy Lord. Only let thine heart be set on ascents.' And the Father added, 'Dear son, I will keep thine heart sent on ascents.'

"Is thine heart set on ascents?" That is the question that I have felt pressing into my mind and soul for many months. Not always in that language, but always with that meaning. Amazingly, the question was not, "Have you made it to the summit?" Or even, "Are you ascending?" But simply, "Is thine heart set on ascents?"

My honest answer to the first two questions is often 'no'. But my honest answer to the last is almost always 'yes'. However, even when I find myself sorrowfully (or even coldly) saying 'no' to that final question, the last phrase rings in my mind, "Dear son, I will keep thine heart set on ascents?"

Joyfully I remember: this task of ascending to the heights of life in Christ is not primarily mine. It is His work. Him who loved me first (1 John 4:19) and called me to embark on this wondrous journey with Him (Romans 5:8-11). Always with Him, never alone or in my own strength. He wants me to ascend, He calls me to ascend; my heart is set on Him, so my heart is set on ascents.