My Hope--Or a Brief Commercial Break

I came across this quote today in a book called The Meaning of Marriage. It resonated with me because I realized that this is my hope, my hope for myself and my hope for this blog. The quote is as follows:

Some years ago, a man who regularly listened to my preaching made a shrewd observation. He said, "When you are well prepared for your sermon, you cite a great variety of sources, but when you aren't well prepared, you just quote C.S.Lewis." He was right. The reason for that is that I have over the years read virtually everything of Lewis that is in print. When I first became a Christian believer, his writings spoke to my questions and concerns more than any other. so I have continually, repeatedly, read his writings until I can recite dozens of passages by heart. I have also read several biographies and lots of his personal letters.
When you dive that deeply into the life and works of a single figure, something interesting happens. You do't just get to know his writings; you get to know how his mind works. You come to know what he would have said in answer to a particular question or how he would have responded to a particular incident. Thee reason that, when I have to speak off the cuff, C.S. Lewis just comes pouring out is because, as it were, he is in there, he is part of my thought life.

What, then, would be the effect be if were to dive even more deeply into Jesus's teaching and life and work? What if were were so immersed in his promises and summoneses, his counsels and encouragements, that they dominated our inner life, capturing our imagination, and simply bubbled out spontaneously when we faced some challenge? What wold we live if we instinctively, almost unconsciously, knew Jesus's mind and heart regarding things that confronted us? When you received criticism , you would never be crushed, because Jesus's love and acceptance of you is so deeply "in there." When you gave criticism, you would be gentle and patient, because your whole inner would would be saturated by a sense of Jesus's loving patience and gentleness with you. (p. 74)

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My prayer is to be this saturated in who Jesus is!