what does it take to get serious with God? what does it take to go past the superficial acknowledgement to knowing God the way that Paul sought to know Him?
Unfortunately, because we are so hard-headed and because the pull of the physical world around us is so strong, it often takes being broken into pieces. Todd Bumgarner has a quote from Charles Spurgeon that shows that it was the same in the 1800’s.
“There is so much of religion, nowadays, that is very superficial, it is all on the surface; a very small quantity of gospel paint, with just a little varnish of profession, will go a very long way, and look very bright. But broken hearts are not like that; with broken hearts, the hymn is a real hymn, the prayer is a real prayer, the hearing of sermons is earnest work, and the preaching them is the hardest work of all. Oh, what a mercy it would be if some of you were broken all to pieces!”
-Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Repentance After Conversion” delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on (June 12, 1887.