To Wish and Not to Will

The other night, Jimmy Pulliam handed me a collection of devotional thoughts by Maltbie Davenport Babcock, and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through them.  

Babcock is best known for his song, “This Is My Father’s World.” Jimmy told a story last Sunday in his Bible class about how the author would go on nature walks in upstate New York, saying to his secretary on the way out the door, “I’m going to see my Father’s world.” 

One of Babcock’s insights that has stayed with me emphasizes the difference between wishing and willing: 

Some men seem to think that when they have praised virtue they have done their duty by it. “How beautiful is goodness!” we say. “O that I were good!” If this is only wistful, we are wrong. If it expresses our decision to attain that goodness, we are right. To praise a virtue without determining to possess it is a first step toward moral suicide. To wish and not to will is spiritual collapse, a house on the sand. 

It's one thing to praise goodness. It’s an entirely different matter when we live it. Jesus didn’t tell us to talk about light; he told us to let our light shine! (Matt. 5:16). 

Have you determined to do what’s right, or are you merely wishing for it? Let your light shine!

Drew Kizer