"There is a Spirit that Delights to do no Evil"

With his dying breaths, James Naylor, an English Quaker, proclaimed, "There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil..." He uttered this statement after years of persecution. However, I'm not going to dwell on how he overcame hardship and learned to be content in a trying situation because that would be to miss the point of this very compelling statement.

My reaction when I first read his dying words was, "Oh, that I would know it!" I, like many deeply religious people, am constantly struggling against my flesh. I know the truth, but knowing and doing are two completely different things. I have found, in the past, that for me to obey God's commands I must fight against myself because I am sinful at the core. During bouts of inspiration, I have attempted to do "great" things for God and, at times, I have succeeded only to realize that I did the deeds for the wrong reasons. Most of the time it was because I wanted people to see how godly I was, but sometimes I just wanted to prove to myself that I was saved. Had I died a year ago, I may have rephrased James Naylor's words in the form of a question: "Is there a spirit that delights to do no evil?"

I have found the answer to be, for every true Christian, an emphatic, "yes." All men are born with an evil spirit that delights, on its own, only to do wickedness. However, in His mercy, God changes the hearts of his chosen people. In Ezekiel, God says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." No longer are we inclined to sin, but we desire to glorify God in all that we do. We are in fact changed from sinful to holy, and the law of God is written in our hearts. Being thus regenerated, Christians can affirm the words of Naylor and continue on to say that this spirit's "...ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God. It's crown is meekness, it's life is everlasting love unfeigned..."

"Return oh Wanderer, now return, and seek the Father's face,
Those new desires which in thee burn were kindled by His grace.
Return oh Wanderer, now return, and wipe the fallen tear,
Thy Father calls- no longer mourn; 'tis love invites thee near."